


Valhalla's Angel

by TheSneezingSOAB



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: Alternate Title: Hajime Vs Everyone's Bullshit, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Hinata Hajime is in Class 77, Anime Tropes, Attempt at Humor, Bartender!Hinata Hajime, F/M, Gen, Hinata Hajime Has a Talent, Minor Va11-Hall-A Crossover, Pairings Undecided Yet, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Snark, Swearing, Unreliable Narrator, a lot of it, first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSneezingSOAB/pseuds/TheSneezingSOAB
Summary: Struggling to survive financially his whole life, Hajime Hinata, at age 14, was forced to take on a job when his father got into a car accident. Luckily, he accidentally stumbled inside a bar who gladly accepted him once they heard out his situation.It also helped that he already had experience in bartending, having to make cocktails for his alcoholic dad and all that.His life did another 180 turn when he received a letter of invitation from Hope's Peak Academy itself. Guess it's starting to change for the better? He crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.
Relationships: Class 77 & Yukizome Chisa, Hinata Hajime & Kizakura Koichi, Hinata Hajime & Koizumi Mahiru, Hinata Hajime & Nanami Chiaki, Hinata Hajime & Soda Kazuichi, Koizumi Mahiru & Sato, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 174





	1. A Life-Changing Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I finally finished my first fic! Took way longer than I thought. Almost a month I think.

[-x-]

“Time to mix drinks and change lives.”

That was a phrase Hajime Hinata was so used to hearing every night for the past two years of being an underage bartender.

He entered his work still clad in his Kodaka High uniform after the longest study session of his life. Finals suck ass.

“Welcome to Val- oh Hajime, you look like you went through hell,” a woman commented on his appearance, “Exams, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah… it does feel like that,” the student replied. “My school demands too much from their students to be honest. Being a prep school and all that…”

“Heh, don’t worry too much about it,” Hajime went behind the counter and donned an apron, “I’ve seen your grades, you’re gonna pass this exam.”

“It’s really not about passing, more so acing it. I need a good paying job to help me and my dad. Instead of barely being able to pay rent and expenses, even with me being a working student.”

“Oh, I know how  _ that _ feels. So speaking of jobs, do you know what kind of career you’ll pursue?” she looked at him in curiosity, “Quick tip: don’t study anything that you don’t enjoy.”

“Yeah yeah. Everyone says that. ‘You won’t last long doing something you hate’, ‘You’ll hate yourself for picking this job or that job,’” he waved her off, “You don't have to repeat them. And I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll get an offer midway through college or something.”

“I know it sounds annoying, but trust me,” the woman insisted. “I’m speaking from experience here, don’t limit your freedom in choosing which job you want. Pick whichever you’re interested in.”

“Whatever you say, senpai. Right now, I’m interested in surviving.”

That was Julianne Akaei, his avid-smoking co-worker. Calling her Akaei or Jill is fine. But do not call her Julianne, big chance she’ll give you a stink eye and most likely ruin her mood. Her twin brother only told him a vague explanation why but never the full context. Bullying, supposedly.

She’s a half japanese, half french woman in her late twenties with jet black hair and wearing her bartender uniform. She often has an indifferent expression on her face and maintains a cool aura around her.

“Where’s Boss?” Hajime asked.

“She went to a board meeting about JTC bars getting canned. Hopefully we don’t get included in that.” She walked towards Hajime and patted his head, “Then again, we do have the Star Bartender in our employment, so we’re probably fine.”

“Hey! Watch it!” he swatted her hand as she chuckled at him, “Wait, where’s Gil-senpai?”

“Your giant cowlick just never goes down does it?” he ignored that question, “Gil’s still on vacation with his girlfriend in Panama, he’s coming back next week. So it’s pretty much just the two of us until Boss returns.”

“Oh yeah, now I remember…”

Before they could continue their conversation, the entrance door opened. They both looked and saw a familiar face enter the bar.

Minato Naegi, father of two radically different children and the nicest patron the bar ever had. He was ridiculously average and never seemed to not radiate like an afternoon sun.

“Welcome to Valhalla, Naegi-san.” the boy smiled to see one of his regulars. “You’re pretty early tonight.”

“Ahaha, I just got out of work earlier.” the smiling man walked to the counter and sat down in front of Hajime. “Can I have my usual drink?”

“One Moonblast coming right up.”

Hajime got to work. First he pulled out a bottle of Adelhyde and poured four ounces in the shaker. Then, he poured a half-ounce of Bronson Extract and Flanergide to add some spice and bitterness.

Next was adding an ounce of Karmotrine into the mix. Finishing up by closing the cap and blending the liquid with the precision and grace of a professional.

He grabbed a glass and poured the drink elegantly.

“Here you go.”

“I really do wonder how you make mixing a drink so mesmerizing, Hinata-kun,” he grabbed the glass and took a sip, “Still the same perfect blend and flavor, thank you.”

“Dunno what you’re talking about Naegi-san, I’m just mixing it like Akaei-senpai or any average bartender would.” he waved off the compliment.

“I don’t think any average bartender could blend a drink as perfect as yours,” the man continued to bombard him with compliments, “The cocktails you make are on a whole ‘nother level compared to others, heck, even your grace and movements could be used as a hypnotic tool.”

“Gotta be honest. I don’t really think I’m that grea-” he got smacked upside the head, “Ow!”

“Can you learn to take a damn compliment already?” his senpai demanded, “It’s so annoying when you’re so humble but clearly the best mixer out of all of us here!”

“I’m not that good though...” Jill readied another smack, “Wait, wait, wait! Maybe I am decent… I mean good! Good! Please don’t hit me again, it friggin’ hurts…” his arms were attempting to block the hands from hitting his skull.

They both paused when laughter came from their client. Jill bowed her head and calmly walked back to her spot on the counter. Both sported back their professional face.

“You kids really act like you’re siblings, you know that?” the man jested, “The two of you remind me of my own kids, just with a big age difference.”

“I apologize for that Naegi-san,” Hajime cleared his throat, “I’ll make it up to you with another drink.”

“It’s fine really, but I  _ will _ take you up on that offer,” Minato thought for a bit then decided, “Well, can I have a Bad Touch?”

Jill’s eyes bursted open at the request. He can see that her professional facade was cracking again.  _ ‘How does she find this amusing or even remotely funny?’ _

“Alright, a Bad Touch,” Hajime glanced back again at his senpai who was trying not to burst out laughing.  _ ‘Seriously… everyone I work with is a weirdo to some extent…’ _

He pulled out a clean shaker out of the shelf and started to carry out his job. ‘ _ An ounce of Bronson Extract, two tablespoons of Powdered Delta and another ounce of Flannergide. _

_ Add two ounce of Karmotrine, and a finishing touch of crushed ice. Mix well and voila.’ _

Grabbing a glass and pouring the green liquid inside. “One Bad Touch served.”

“Thank you Hinata-kun,” the man sent worried glances at Jill and wondered for a bit if the other bartender was okay but dismissed the thought, “I can’t believe someone actually named a drink ‘Bad Touch’... In any case, this is still a good cocktail.”

“Right?! *ahem* Right? Why would s-someone do that?” a bewildered Jill asked.

Another customer went in. This time it was one of Jill’s regulars. A buff police woman with short blue hair in a bob. Sei Asagiri was her name, if he recalled correctly. She went and sat down in front of Jill.

_ ‘Good, at least that’ll keep her distracted from her atrocious humor.’ _

“So, how’s the family, Naegi-san?” he started up the small talk, “are Makoto-kun and Komaru-chan doing well?”

Having Minato as a customer for almost a year let him see a peek into his homelife. The man has already described his family as being ridiculously average like himself. Despite that, Hajime found it quite interesting to know people like the Naegis. They’re so damn normal that they stand out.

“Thanks for asking,” the man  _ cannot _ stop his politeness sometimes, “They’re doing pretty well. Schoolwise, Komaru could use more studying while Makoto’s grades never go above or below a ‘B.’ At home, they’re livelier than ever, being teenagers and all that. Makes Fuuka scratch her head more frequently.”

“Sounds like fun. But... a pain at the same time.” He bluntly commented on it.

“It could be. A few weeks ago, Makoto was chasing Komaru for taking his bag of chips. They passed by the living room and Makoto accidentally slipped and crashed into the TV.”

Hajime showed a pitying expression. “That must’ve sucked.”

“Luckily, Makoto was completely unharmed. Although, I had to go to the store and buy a replacement. Had the kids clean up the residue glass and carry out the old one as punishment.”

“Damn, that’s pretty lenient. How often do these types of accidents actually happen?”

“Oh, a bi-weekly basis.” Hajime was questioning how Minato was even surviving… his wallet must hate him.

The bartender did feel a little bit envious of them. Not to say that his dad wasn’t lively, but having an entire happy family doing shenanigans together made him feel like he was missing out.

The Naegi patriarch downed the rest of his drink and exhaled loudly.

“Well, I’m just about done here for tonight. I have quite the long day tomorrow, so I need to get going,” Minato rose up and smiled at Hajime, “See you next time, Hinata-kun.”

“Please come again.” Hajime said while waving at the man.

He pondered over his last conversation. It wasn’t like him to be jealous of families of all things. True that his home life wasn’t the most joyous, but that doesn’t mean he disliked it. His dad can be pretty caring.

Despite that, seeing how the Naegi children were being treated made his heart ache. To this day, he mulled over the idea of his parents not despising each other and having a normal family.

Sadly, life never goes the way you want it to.

His body shuddered when he felt a gaze land on him. He noticed that his co-worker was staring at him.

“Oi kouhai, mind serving my friend for a bit, I forgot to check if those cats dislocated the antenna on the roof again.”

“Why don’t I go check myself?” Hajime snapped out of his trance and asked.

“Hajime… for the past two years you’ve worked here, not  _ once _ have you fixed the antenna properly,” his senpai pointed out, “To be fair, we haven’t really taught you how to, but I don’t care. Plus I don’t want another repeat of last ti-.”

“F-Fine! Fine… go ahead. I don’t want another one either. Just saying, I’m not the one to fully blame for that.” he glared at her and returned to his default snarky self.

“Is that animosity I hear? Not that you can really say anything about it,” she flicked his cowlick, “Be back in a few.”

Her shoes clicked against the cement flooring. She pulled the door handle and entered the staircases. After she disappeared, Hajime faced his client clearly looking interested in that interaction with his senpai.

“You get along really well with Jill-san don’t you?” Asagiri-san commented, “I feel like you have the same chemistry that she has with her pseudo-sister.”

“Should I be happy about that or worried?” Hajime nervously asked, “Actually scratch that, I’m worried.”

“Aw, you shouldn’t be, Jill-san is a great person! Though... she can be a bit abrasive at times,” she toned down her volume, “She’s still honest and very kind-hearted.”

“I feel like I’m the exception here. I haven’t really seen her being all that ‘kind-hearted,’” he pointed out using his fingers as exaggeration.

The bartender tried to recall any instances where she was remotely sympathetic with him. None really came to mind. All she’s done was tease him and berate him. Maybe when she gave him birthday gifts. Or… he was just too fucking dense.

“She treats you like an older sister would.”

“...”

“Jill-san saw the troubled expression you had and helped.” Asagiri-san added more evidence, “She asked you to serve me drinks here instead of sending you upstairs where you can potentially worsen your mental state.”

_ ‘Shit, she’s right. She could be chatting with her good friend here but chose to do some mindless chore. Or  _ maybe _ she just doesn’t trust me at all cuz of last time.’ _

“Maybe you’re right about that. Maybe...” the teen was still in denial about it, “A-Anyways, would you like another drink?”

“Oh sure, can I have a Bloom Light please?” she readily took the offer.

Hajime took that as a sign to get back to his craft. He grabbed his third clean shaker of the night. This time, taking his ingredients from the ‘aged’ compartment.

He added two ounces of Adelhyde, a spoonful of Powdered Delta, an ounce of Flanergide and one-and-a-half ounce of Karmotrine. The teen cracked some ice and stirred the drink with graceful perfection. Afterwards pouring it into a vintage glass. No spills were made.

A sound of clapping came near the entrance. A man sporting a white fedora and suit walked towards the counter. Koichi Kizakura, in all his mustache and goatee glory, sat down next to the policewoman. The Hope’s Peak Academy’s scout grinned at him.

“You look like you’re putting on a show with those fancy moves there kid,” Koichi said, “Why not start lighting the drinks on fire while juggling knives shirtless next time?”

“...I don’t think I will Kizakura-san, seems kinda dangerous don't ya think? And why do I have to be shirtless? Can I not just mix drinks like a regular bartender?”

“Oh humor me sometimes kid, being cynical only makes you a stick in the mud,” the man insisted, “And nobody, and I mean nobody, likes them.”

Hajime rolled his eyes as a response. Not like he cared about being one. Cynicism has helped him a great deal in his life. From dealing with annoying classmates to ignoring/judging the hell out of weirdos on the streets.

Even handling some of the interactions(drunken stupidity) of his regulars, especially the one he was dealing with at the moment.

“Still saved my ass a bunch of times so I’ll keep at it.”

“*sigh* Do what you want kid, just don’t blame it on me when it comes back to bite your ass,” he took off his hat, “Anyways, I’ll take my usual.”

Hinata went auto-pilot for this one. Considering the amount of time Kizakura spends in the bar per week, aka literally being there every night when it’s open, he didn’t need all that much focus.

“Sorry for ignoring you Asagiri-san, since I have to deal with this drunkard,” he pointed at the man responsible for 50% of his ordered drinks, “How’re Hoshii-san’s injuries?” 

“It’s been healing pretty well, she’ll be able to move without the sling by next week,” she sipped her drink, “This tastes much better than Jill-san’s, no offence to her work.”

“Let’s just hope she didn’t hear that,” he said while mixing up Kizakura’s cocktail, “Even if she did, she wouldn’t lay a finger on you.”  _ ‘Or couldn’t to be exact.’ _

“I suppose you’re right about that.” Asagiri-san stared down at her drink.

“Going back on Hoshii-san. Any news about her attacker?” he asked.

“The assaulter got fined 400 thousand yen and sent to jail for a year for attempted murder and robbery.”

Hajime gave her a quizzical look. That was a very tolerant ruling of the judge to allow a criminal who attacked a VIP in her own home. He wasn’t as close as Jill was to Asagiri and Hoshii, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t call bullshit. Did they not hire their best lawyers?

“I’m surprised he wasn’t sentenced for life considering he attacked a daughter of a CEO.” 

“Turns out that man has friends in high places.” her tone sounded bitter as she glided her finger on the rim of the glass.

Again, in Hajime’s opinion; Bull. Shit. Then his other client spoke.

“Connections can go far in terms of leniency in the court of law,” Kizakura interjected, “I’ve seen some Yakuza leaders and high-profile criminals go unpunished ‘cuz they managed to ‘persuade’ the judges.”

“Justice can never be served properly, can it?” he paused then slid the man his Fringe Weaver.

“Unless they’re caught with their pants down by ten witnesses. No,” Koichi laid his chin on his hand and his drink with the other, “And even then, those same ten can be bought off.”

“Corruption runs far in the current system, Hinata-kun,” the blue-haired woman slumped her shoulders and sighed, “Unless we rebuild it from the ground up, nothing can really be done. Doing my job properly is all I can do.”

Mood certainly sunk. But then like a metaphorical hero, Jill came back from the roof. The back door squeaked open and abruptly got shut. Hajime moved aside while Jill reclaimed her spot.

“What’s gotten you people down?”

“Apparently, the judge was very lenient at Hoshii-san’s attacker. Man only got a year of jail time instead of the usual ten.” Hajime reiterated.

“Oh yeah... that bullshit...” she grumbled.

“We can’t do anything about it now. The judge already made the ruling,” Asagiri-san said, “Let’s just be happy that Sutera-chan is recovering well.”

“Can’t complain about that.”

Their conversation devolved into more lighter topics. Things like gossip around the city, which celebrity’s acting on this new blockbuster or Kizakura’s alcohol issue. That last one was brought up constantly but the scout waved their concerns off each time.

Hajime started to drift off in his own thoughts. He still made sure to give his takes if asked but otherwise tuned out their exchanges.

Worries about his future began bubbling up once again. His old man and him were certainly far from being well off. Barely sustaining their lives at the moment.

Their financial problem started when his parents got divorced. Only being seven years old, he hadn’t been able to comprehend the repercussions. His dad fought tooth and nail to gain full custody of him.

From what he can recall, his dad recorded some footage of his mother abusing him. Perhaps he got some of their past neighbors to be witnesses. His mom never paid attention to her volume.

And it really wasn’t all that pretty before that. Constant fights were ever present in the Hinata household. Furnitures smashed, bruises inflicted, mental health degraded. He never figured out how his parents actually got together. They were both toxic and revulted each other.

Fortunately, their lawyer won them the case. His old man gained full custody and the hag got sent to prison.

The divorce certainly did more good than harm. But without their second source of income, things got rough. His father was forced to take on two jobs. Additionally, him being afflicted with an alcohol problem magnified their money dilemma.

Beer bottles were scattered around an apartment that wasn’t made for two people.

This issue continued but one unforseen positive result came out of it. He uncovered his talent for mixology due to his dad offhandedly suggesting that he ‘wanted something fancier.’ So the next day, he bought cocktail ingredients. 

Sure, throwing money into ingredients rather than full bottles made things a teeny bit easier on their pockets. It also made their place much cleaner too.

By age twelve, he could already mix and blend most complex drinks. Though, mistakes were basically prohibited unless he wanted to waste money. Efficiency and precision were key; so, his skills flourished.

Gladly, he only ever made two errors in total. And that was when he was still learning how to shake properly and pour into jiggers. Compliments from his dad came by more and more once he got used to it.

He knew that feeding into his dad’s addiction wouldn’t help later on, but he cooked up a plan. Since he was the one providing the drinks, he could also limit it. So that he did.

His life took another turn when his dad got into a car accident.

Being fourteen at the time meant that he couldn’t legally get a job. His relatives wouldn’t dare help his dad because of some drama that happened. He had to take action.

Payments needed to be paid or the worst was to come. Thus he did what any reasonable kid would. Find a job.

Yeah... he wasn’t really the brightest but it paid off.

In one of the days he was job hunting, he got reported to the police for falsifying his resume and age. An officer recognized him while he was buying a can of soda from a vending machine. A chase happened but once he managed to wriggle out of the officer’s sight, he took a turn by a sketchy alley and found an open door.

To reiterate, he wasn’t the brightest. Going into a random building, in a random alley despite what adults told him beforehand. What he wasn’t ready for was the place being a bar.

He was slightly concerned that the owner and employees forgot to close _and_ lock the door, but right now he was marveling at the amount of drinks, ingredients and equipment they had.

From the most low-priced liquor to the more costly booze, his eyes were darting from each bottle of alcohol on the shelves. This was his heaven.

Never in his life had he seen an actual bar being a minor and all that. Then, an itching sensation overcame the teen. He  _ had _ to try and make a drink. 

The logical part of his mind was screaming not to do this very legally-questioning act he was about to perform, but his emotions reigned supreme.

Two hours flew by without his conscience, the sun already set and he was having the time of his life.

Eventually, someone else went in.

[-x-]

_ ~Flashback~ _

“What the hell is a kid doing here?” a woman asked herself, intrigued, “How did he even get in?”

Hajime hasn’t noticed she entered, being too engrossed in mixing. He was currently making a Zen Star. It was a drink that required the same amount of ingredients all around; two ounces each of Adelhyde, Bronson Extract, Flanergide Karmotrine and two tablespoons of Powdered Delta.

All on the rocks and mixed well, strained afterwards into a stemless glass. The result was a remarkable blue fizzing liquid ready to be consumed.

The woman was astonished by the skill carried out by the brown-haired boy. From the jigger pouring to the ice cracking, she couldn’t take her eyes off.

His hand grabbed the glass and he took a swig. Swallowing the drink with a satisfied expression, the boy exhaled in delight.

That was a first for the woman, seeing someone content after drinking a Zen Star; one of the most bland and sour drinks ever created. Wait, did the kid just drink alcohol?

“It’s illegal to drink underage y’know?” she finally gained his attention. Like a deer caught in headlights, he simply stared at her until the realization sunk in.

Hajime panicked on what to do, almost dropping the Zen Star from his hands. His mind worked overtime to try and explain why he trespassed into private property, used their equipment to make cocktails  _ and  _ drink alcohol.

“Um… u-uh. I-I…” the teen couldn’t form words out of his mouth.

“Pass me the drink,”  _ that  _ caught him by surprise, “I wanna try it.”

Not having a reason not to, he laid the glass on the counter for her to take. A bead of sweat dripped down his face when the liquid touched her lips.

Moments passed and she bore a dreamy expression. Every gulp reminded her of the best of times in her life. Winning the national championship, celebrating last New Years Eve with her closest friends, getting into a new relationship; all those things combined hit her like a truck.

The woman hadn't realized that the glass was now empty. Her vision felt off and blurry, she reached out to her eyes and felt liquid. She was tearing up.

“Are you alright?” the boy now rid of his panic asked her gently with concern present on his face. He reached down the counter to give her a napkin. She took it immediately.

“It’s really not like me to cry like this,” she wiped her eyes while snorting in mucus forming in her nose, “The hell did you even put in that drink?”

“The ingredients for a Zen Star...?” he felt like that was a trick question but still answered with full honesty.

“Seriously?” she was dumbfounded, “You made a Zen Star  _ this _ good? How many times did ya practice making it?”

“Oh, this is actually the first time I made one,” he said straight-faced, “My dad says it’s a waste to make, too many components used.”

She simply stared at the teen for that.

“My god kid… you might have some talent…” then, an imaginary lightbulb lit up in her head “Hmm, I think we should test this out.” she pointed to the shelves and cabinets, “Use anything you need.”

“Wait, you’re just gonna let me? I can use the equipment and everything? You’re not gonna report me for trespassing? Why are you letting me do this? Is this some sort of test?

“Damn kid, you gotta breathe,” she ordered him, “There’s no test and I'm not reporting you. Don’t worry about it, I own this place. And now, I wanna see you in action.”

He didn’t sense any mal intent or deception from her. Either she was insanely good at fooling people or she was telling the truth. He gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps she was simply very impulsive and carefree. Not that he can tell much from this confrontation so...

He got to work.

[-x-]

~Present~

At the time, he didn’t realize what it would result in. But in the future, it gave Hajime a place he would sooner call his home rather than his dingy and tiny apartment.

He laughed at the thought, having to convince Boss to hide him from the officer chasing him was easier than he thought.

Another thing he didn’t expect was asking for employment and being accepted instantly once he revealed his situation. Bless her for being kind-hearted and understanding. Though, it partly might’ve been his latent talent.

It didn’t take him long to get used to working there. His co-workers were nice people. Gillian being the cool dude and his sister Jill being a pain in the ass but very caring.

He respected them both greatly to this day. They welcomed his presence pretty well in fact. Teaching him the ropes on how the bar works, the shifts, the turns for cleaning, etc.

The only thing that was remotely unwelcoming was an offhand comment Jill made about how they’re ‘accepting children as employees now.’ Imagine her surprise when he first made a cocktail in front of her. He had unintentionally showed her up in front of her best friend.

She wasn’t happy about it but accepted their skill gap.

Soon afterwards, he got to pay for his dad’s hospital bills. And things mostly returned to normal. Mostly. His old man can only work one job now. So, he continued his bartending work.   
  


He got way less sleep but hey, sacrifices needed to be made to have a roof above your head.

“Hajime, stop sleeping on the job, your customer wants another drink.” Jill snapped him back to reality.

The teenage bartender noticed that Asagiri-san had left for… something. He wasn’t paying attention at all. Kizakura was mocking him. Bastard...

“H-Huh? Oh right…” he grabbed a clean shaker and paused, “Um, senpai, which drink does he want?”

“Do you not listen?” his colleague scolded while the scout snickered, he’ll get back at him, “He wants a Piano Man. Also, I’m gonna take my break now.”

Hajime scurried before Jill lambasted him again. His colleague walked off to the exit, leaving him to deal with a jackass.

Just for spite, he added the ingredients necessary for a Piano Woman instead. He’d have to pay with his own pocket if Kizakura doesn’t drink it but it was worth the risk.

All aged one ounce of Adelhyde, an ounce of Bronson Extract, two tablespoons of Powdered Delta, three-quarters of Flanergide and a half-ounce of Karmotrine.

“Here.” Hajime slid a glass filled with a very similar-looking liquid to the Piano Man.

“...Hey kid, this isn’t what I ordered.” he said, recognizing the difference after one sip.

“Is it not? Oh my bad.”

“...”

“...”

“Are you really not gonna fix it?”

“Nope. Don’t plan on it.”

“Really gonna treat your favorite client like this? That’s bad for business y’know?” Kizakura complained.

“You’ll come back regardless.” he bit back.

“Not like I can complain, all your drinks are top notch.”

“So,  _ now _ you’re complimenting me?”

“Kid, learn to take praise. Life gets easier like that.”

“I don't wanna get an inflated ego.”

“Doesn’t help that you single-handedly saved this bar from closing.”

“Don’t  _ you _ own that title?”

“But it’s  _ you  _ that made me come back.”

“...”

“...”

“This is stupid.”

“Well, you started it in the first place. Anyways, get me a Suplex instead. I’ll leave after I finish it.” he ordered the bartender.

“Alright then…”

_ ‘Gil-senpai’s creation… should be easy enough… two ounces of Bronson Extract, one and a half ounces Flanergide and another ounce and a half of Karmotrine. Add some rocks then shake.” _

He poured the golden liquid into an old-fashioned glass. The teen set the shaker by the sink and washed his hands, then dried them up later with a clean white towel.

The two sat in silence, not bothering to bicker or complain. Hajime reached for some glasses to wipe spotless.

Squeaks from the wipes and ice clinking were the only thing heard. Classic comfortable silence reigned them.

This only happened once in a blue moon.

If he was being honest, it weirded Hajime a little bit. This was very unusual for the man in front of him. It wasn’t as if it wasn’t welcome, he was simply used to the bullshit-spewing banter he regularly got.

Then Kizakura finished his drink and spoke.

“I think I’m down for the night. Gotta start the scouting work for next year's batch.” he stood up.

“Don’t you only have like... a month before next year starts?” Hajime raised an eyebrow.

“No worries kid, I already have them located. Just gotta send the letters to the students and do some small paperwork to pass to the headmaster afterwards.”

“Are you gonna leave now?”

“Again, not good for business to ask customers if they’re ‘gonna leave now.’ but yeah, I am. And kid…?

“Yeah?”

“Here’s the payment,” he fished out his wallet, and per usual overpays him, “And here’s your letter of admission.”

Kizakura placed the letter over the bills. He stood up and casually walked off.

“What?! Hey! Don’t just fucking walk off like… dammit he’s gone,” he nearly pulled out a handful of his hair then but decided not to, “What the hell… just dropping something that could change my life and taking off without a care.”

The teen clearly didn’t know what to think. His mind was jumbled. The revelation was far too quick. The cheeky bastard planned this to happen...

On one hand, his future and survival was all but secured. Any and all graduates of Hope’s Peak Academy Main Course were set for life. There wasn’t an entrance exam, the only way to get in was to receive an invitation letter by the school’s scout or win a nation-wide lottery.

But on the other, he just couldn’t believe this was happening. He got the chance to hone his talent for three years in the best school on the planet. Bartending was always a hobby turned job he enjoyed, now he has the chance to do it for as long as he wants to.

He could be dreaming for all he cared. Hajime pinched himself for certainty.

His dad would be stoked about the news. Graduating from Hope’s Peak Academy practically guaranteed your success into society. Which meant: no more financial worries.

Would he be proud of his son? Yes, along with the fact that he would use that opportunity to spite his ex-wife in jail. Visiting her to simply shove that fact in her face.

And that doesn’t really bother the teen all that much. His mom was kind of a… bitch for a lack of a better word.

Hajime felt some stinging on his palms, not realizing that his nails were piercing through his skin, blood dripping down on both his palms.

Yeah, he needed to calm down soon before he caused himself more self-injuries.

Fortunately, his senpai returned from her break.

“You alright there, kouhai?” she looked awfully worried, “Why are you bleeding? Did you drop another glass?”

“No, it's just… I’m conflicted right now.” he pointed to the pristine, custom-made admission letter with the Hope’s Peak logo.

Hajime twisted the faucet and washed off the blood.

His hands recoiled at the prickling sensation, but he pushed through it. He turned the faucet off, wiggling his hands to remove most of the remaining water.

Then, he opened a cabinet that contained black towels to which he dried off his hands. Multiple crescent-shaped wounds were now present.

He glanced back to Jill holding the unopened letter, sporting a delighted expression on her face

“Oh my god, Hajime! I knew you could do it!” she ran up and pounced on him. Somehow turning into a bear hug and squeezing the brown-haired boy’s life out.

“What’s happening here?”

Another person entered the bar, a woman to be more specific. Hajime, Jill and Gillian’s Boss and owner of Va11-Hall-A: Dana ‘Red Comet’ Zane, former Ultimate Wrestler. Still wearing her usual button up white shirt and striped purple slacks. An ahoge was also sticking out of her white hair.

Do  **not** underestimate this woman because of her physique, nature and gender. Some unfortunate clients have already learned the hard way.

Jill got off of Hajime and brushed the wrinkles on her uniform. “*ahem* This kid got admitted into your high school, Boss.” If Hinata wasn’t paying attention, he could’ve easily missed the slight rise of the edge of her lips.

Not that it mattered when it turned into a full-blown toothy smile. She approached him and he suddenly felt a shudder run down his spine.

With his average at best reaction time, he didn’t see Dana’s zooming arm latched onto his neck. He was forced to his knees by Dana’s headlock. Not to mention that he was now suffocating and his facial color was quickly changing.

To add more spice to it, Dana gave him some noogies.

A flash of light made him close his eyes momentarily. Once he got his vision back, he could see a very pleased-looking Jill with her phone directed at them.

“Oh man this is one to hang in display here.” she pocketed it, “Also, Boss, I think you should let go now, he’s turning purple.”

His chest collided with the cold cement. Dry coughs turned into heavy breathing as he rolled on the floor gasping for air.

“Hehe, I  _ may  _ have gone a little bit too far…” Dana scratched her face in nervous-laughter.

_ ‘No shit you did! I nearly died!’ _

“Anyways...”

_ ‘You’re just gonna move on?!’ _

She wrapped her arms around his chest and lifted him up effortlessly. Setting him straight and brushing off the dust from his clothing.

Hajime readjusted his green tie once he recovered from the near-death experience. “Boss, you realize that there were plenty of other methods to celebrate this instead of nearly killing me, right?”

In Dana’s defence, she did look somewhat flustered but she never gave much thought. Instead, she proceeded to lay both her hands on Hajime’s shoulders and stare right into his eyes.

For a second there the teen felt as if he was going to receive one of Dana’s patented finishing moves, he shuddered at the thought.

But then two things happened, her face softened into a smile and his face got slammed into her chest. The young bartender went into shock by the fact that his face was being cushioned by a pair of very soft bosoms.

“B-Bosh, wha’ da ‘ell ah’ yu ‘oing?!” he screeched while muffled by his employer’s bust.

“Your reward for getting into Hope’s Peak, that’s what! You said there’s other methods, I say this is one of ‘em!” Hajime would have never imagined in his life being rewarded by getting smothered by breasts, especially from his Boss!

It doesn’t help that out of the corner of his eye, his senpai was just there staying still and doing nothing about it. She should know if this was a typical award from her. Why is she even allowing this?! These women are dating each other for god’s sake!

Another minute of his hormones overflowing, he was finally released from a voluptuous hell.

“Can’t I get a simple ‘congrats’ next time instead?!” he cried in hysteria about it. Flailing his arms around for emphasis. He would not survive another second if he had more people like this in his life.

“Not in this building, you aren’t!” she laughed off his demands, “I’m just proud of you! Getting into Hope’s Peak by being my employee!” she playfully jabbed his right arm, not realizing the force she put in.

“OW!” he rubbed the afflicted spot.

“Shouldn’t you be excited too? I mean, you’re basically set for life now.” Jill crossed her arms and leaned her hip to the counter. 

“True, but things are happening  _ way _ too quickly for my brain to properly process them.” his fingers fiddled with the edge of his apron.

“Oh, don’t be like that. It’ll sink in eventually.” Dana said.

“Boss, I don’t know if you realize but, you’re way too laid-back.”

“And, you’re too stiff! Loosen up! You’re a teenager, not an adult. You shouldn’t have to be mature for your age. You know what? Why don’t we have fun and celebrate? I’ll go order some chicken wings. Jill, you handle the drinks and snacks.” She pulled out her phone and started contacting a local restaurant, not bothering to wait for his reply.

“Don’t we have drinks here already?” Jill jerked her thumb towards the shelves of beverages they have.

“No! We gotta buy some from the store or it doesn’t feel like a party!” That... really didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but he couldn’t really cross her. She’s too boneheaded and intimidating. A really scary combo… “And take Hajime with you for help.” Of course she’s volunteering him without consent.

“Fine... kouhai, let’s go.” she walked off to the exit without waiting for him. Hinata scurried to remove his apron and catch up.

“And don’t forget to close up!”

[-x-]

_ ‘Not gonna lie, that was pretty fun.’ _

Walking home from his celebration party which he would describe as ‘disorganized chaos,’ Hajime reminisced on the shit that his co-workers pulled. Downing a whole bottle of Whiskey together made Dana batshit crazy and Jill surprisingly only tipsy.

Of course, like a transformed responsible boy, he didn’t consume any. He stuck to his newly favored 100% freshly-squeezed orange juice.

Not that Dana didn’t try to coerce him to drink by threatening to cut his salary, he simply knew better.

Plus, if he  _ did  _ drink, he wouldn’t be in any state to go to school. Let alone have the mental capacity to concentrate because of a hangover.

It was hilarious to see Dana and  _ Jill  _ of all people sing their hearts out while crying to Kenshi Yonezu’s ‘Lemon.’ He knew busting out the old karaoke set was an excellent idea.

As revenge, he also took a photo that he’s likely going to send to the bar’s group chat. That included some regulars as well.

Speaking of the group chat, his boss already sent the message attached to a picture of the Hope’s Peak letter. His other senpai and a multitude of their regulars congratulated him. Still not used to the praise, he got flustered.

One of them even offered him a free erotic service for his accomplishment, but he flatly refused.

This day will probably go down as one of- if not the best day of his pretty shitty life.

Turning his life upside down in one fell swoop.

When Kizakura comes back to the bar, he wouldn’t mind crushing the man with a bear hug… that made him pause.

_ ‘I really am being influenced by them…’ _

Finally arriving at his building, which wasn’t a far off walk from the bar, he pulled his keys out and entered. Not bothering to announce himself, he removed his shoes and placed them by the side.

It was your usual small japanese apartment, one bedroom, bathroom/toilet and kitchen.

Creaky wood groaned at his steps. Glancing at his passed out father on the table, hand on a semi-empty bottle, he sighed and pulled out clean clothes from his dresser. A quick shower sounded delectable at the moment. So he got on that.

Sliding the door open with as little noise as possible, his feet felt the cold touch of the bathroom tiles. He laid his garments by the sink and stripped down. Putting his nose close, his uniform reeked of alcohol and sweat.

He recoiled and lobbed it at the laundry basket. It wasn’t the best decision, since he forgot to grab his phone out. Hajime decided to leave it there for now and entered the bath.

Twisting the handle to the max, he felt steaming water on his scalp. It flowed through his skin until it reached the white floor. He grabbed the wash cloth and bar of soap and started scrubbing.

While cleaning himself off, he thought on how he was going to go about announcing the news to his dad. Would he dance around the subject or just state it bluntly?

The first option didn’t really appeal to him all that much. In this situation, how would you even skirt around the subject that is a Hope’s Peak admission letter? You can’t, period.

Only making the second one the most viable option.

Now how would he phrase it?  _ ‘Hey dad, I received an admission letter for Hope’s Peak Academy’  _ wayyy too direct.  _ ‘Yo dad, um... I kinda received this letter of admission here and…’ _ too casual, maybe he should just roll with it.

Being about done, he rinsed himself one last time and left the bath. Pulling the cabinet door open, he picked up a clean white towel and dried his body.

After he dressed up, he noticed that it was already halfway past four and that he wouldn’t get enough sleep. Not that he sleeps much anyways. A nap would have to do the job.

Throughout the day, excluding Sundays, he took naps whenever he could. Breaktime, Lunch, Afternoon Break, After School, he had to take advantage of what little rest he could get.

Sunday is when he recovers those missing hours by sleeping all day long. Though, his homework has to be done in advance, so… you can’t win ‘em all.

Deep grunts echoed in the apartment, guess his dad woke up. Here goes nothing...

“Hey dad, I got some big news for you.” he opened up his bag and passed the big news.

His father rubbed his eyes and froze up. Hajime assumed he noticed the elegant emblem. Then he pulled out the paper and unfolded it. His silence and straight-faced expression became one of joy and excitement.

For the nth time tonight, Hajime got put in a headlock, at least he could breathe this time. But that doesn’t make it any better!

“Hajime, you make me goddamn proud!” Tatsuya Hinata roared while ruffling his son’s hair. Smiling wide as he downed the beer bottle laying on the table. This was accompanied afterwards by a powerful burp.

“Dad! Don’t do that right next to my face! It’s disgusting!”

“Oh lay off will ya? You just got into the most prestigious school in Japan!” his dad countered, “This should call for a celebration! Think you can skip today?”

“No, not really. I got finals coming up this week,” the teen didn’t really find it alluring to party twice in the span of six hours, he needs his rest. “But, we could probably do it by the weekend”

“Shit…” he clicked his tongue, “Well, saturday night it is then.”

“Yep, just gotta be patient,” Hajime affirmed, “a week isn’t much time, you’ll get your cocktails eventually.”

“Can I at least get one? Just as a teaser?” the younger Hinata was already walking off to prepare his futon, “C’mon Hajime, don’t do me like this. Pleaseeee?” 

Outright ignoring his father’s wishes, Hajime Hinata finally got some shut eye after this rollercoaster of a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I first thought of this AU by asking myself: What kind of talent does Hajime have? Well, Fuyuhiko and Nagito's FTEs say that he has an aura of some sort that relaxes people. What kind of people have those auras? Therapists and Counselors. Then I dug deeper, I thought of Bartenders and how they could make people talk about their lives while having a glass. And here we are.
> 
> This includes a small crossover of Va11-Hall-A with some characters and mechanics added because I don't know jack shit about mixology and this simplifies things.
> 
> I was inspired to write by a deleted fic Fatalityapples wrote called 'Super Danganronpa Slice Of Life: The Class 77, 78 and 79th's Mutual Life Of Bullshit' (which if u read and downloaded it, let me know. I'm desperate to reread it), MixnSpice's 'Farewell to Thee, Normality' and KtyouVsWriting's 'Discovery.' Thanks for the great fics guys!
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading this long-ass prologue. Next chapter will get into Hope's Peak and Class 77-B.


	2. The Academy of Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus, even this chapter took awhile...
> 
> I’ve noticed that my vulgarity IRL was leaking through the first chapter, so I lessened it here. I think… I’m actually not sure. Probably not though.
> 
> Lemme know if you like the no-filter or a filtered version better.
> 
> Anyways, here's chapter two of this shitshow.

[-x-]

“Here it is… Hope’s Peak Academy.”

Hajime was standing in front of the regarded: finest high school in Japan. Easily towering any of the surrounding buildings and radiating a suffocating aura of the Elites. He felt as if he was being crushed by simply being present.

_‘How would it feel to be inside Hope’s Peak?’_ he asked himself, _‘a Marianas Trench comparison wouldn’t be too far off.’_

Only the best of the best in their respective fields entered this place. And apparently, he was one of them now. He was nominated as an Ultimate student. The best there was in his department: Bartending.

There was a superficial conflict between which term is better, Ultimate or SHSL. He preferred the former because the latter just sounded too hideous to even say. You couldn’t pay him to use ‘Super High School Level,’ it was such a mouthful when you can just say Ultimate.

_‘Who even invented that and what were they smoking?’_

He wagered that it was someone that tried to make it sound cool but in reality made it worse. And sadly, it spread and now there was a pointless war about it.

Ignoring that silliness, he didn’t feel at place being with a class filled with more useful talents than him. Yes, Hajime did some research about his future classmates by searching around some popular and frequented HPA forums online and following in on the rumors.

The Ultimate Bartender sighed. He didn't have the most practical talent out of everyone, but it was _something._

From the more helpful ones like the Ultimate Nurse, U. Mechanic and U. Breeder to the more recreational ones like U. Gamer, U. Photographer and U. Musician, his class was definitely filled with diversity.

He was quite surprised when someone knew about an Ultimate Bartender being listed in. Then again, the forums’ accuracy for these were high and hardly incorrect. These people scoured the entire internet for their information.

Only six were actually name-dropped; Kuzuryu Clan’s next in line: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, the Miracle Manager: Nekomaru Nidai, Novoselic’s Princess: Sonia Nevermind, Black Cherry’s former vocalist: Ibuki Mioda, the Saionji heiress: Hiyoko Saionji and... himself.

Most of them were either very influential or had a huge following. The rest solely had their talents revealed and had some form of gossip on their identities. Mostly fake sounding and fictitious as all hell.

So why was he there when he was just some random bartender of some random bar in downtown Tokyo? He let the fact that he was gonna attend Hope’s Peak slip out his mouth in school. And it _spread_ like wildfire.

Yep… regrets were _definitely_ made...

People he has never interacted with came by and started conversations with him, his acquaintances were more glued than usual and his popularity rose through the roof. He was more glad now that he never made an actual friend in school, they’d never leave his hip. Sad but also relieving.

Everyone basically knew him and he was getting far more attention than before. His social media accounts even got a follower boost.

Eventually, his talent became known, as well as his workplace. Some of his schoolmates went so far as to visit him in one of his shifts. That was probably how his name ended up on those forums.

He honestly didn’t care if they were trying to leech off of him. What he _did_ care about was he was barely getting a wink of sleep at all! They kept on pushing to be ‘friends’ when he was struggling to doze off.

These people wouldn’t get off his dick and let him have his beloved naps!

Fortunately, it only lasted a month before he’d escape that hell and attend Hope’s Peak so it wasn’t that bad. Unfortunately, as much as he told himself that, he really didn’t believe those words.

The teen was only starting to get his sleep back so no one better start some crap today or he might very well lose it.

Once Hajime got his nerve up, aka making himself frustrated, he finally stepped inside the gates of the Academy.

[-x-]

If the architecture on the outside was phenomenal, he didn’t know how to describe the inside. Simply put, it looked and _felt_ world-class. He had a hunch they got an Ultimate Architect to design the layout.

Everything looks polished and prestigious. Wherever his eyes landed, it was an eye-candy. Walls? Yep. Floor? Aye. Windows? Yessir.

He should stop before he embarasses himself. Dana advised him to search for the front desk. From what she remembered and informed him, that should be… to his right.

Oh.

The receptionist was staring blankly right at him. Great…

Hajime awkwardly walked up to her while fishing out his letter from his pocket.

“Um… I-I’m here for Class 77-B’s orientation,” he was fumbling over his words while scratching his cheek, “Here’s my letter of admission, hehe…”

_‘First day embarrassment, that’s what ya like to see...’_ he was barely holding his internal screaming. Right this moment, he hated himself the most. Despite his worries, she took the letter without much hesitation.

“Ah, Hinata-san, the Ultimate Bartender. I’ve heard stories,” ...that was new, then again it wasn’t like he was an unknown anymore, “Kizakura-san’s talked about you quite a bit.”

“Hopefully nothing too negative.” he playfully laughed it off, trying not to curse out the hat-wearing bastard.

Speaking of which, he never got to thank the guy because he hasn’t visited the bar once. Hajime wanted to chalk it up to the scout being too occupied, except... he would never miss a whole month of booze. Man’s too addicted for that.

Over the two years of bartending, not once has he missed a whole month of liquor. A day? Hangovers can happen. A week? Sure, he might be busy. But a month? N.O.

Kizakura didn’t make himself miss out on alcohol. So… he was doing it on purpose. 

So, Hinata made it one of his objectives today to confront him in person. Ask for answers and maybe give the hug he never deserved for deserting Hajime. He won’t give this up.

“Oh, no, no, he hasn’t done that,” that caught him by surprise, “If anything, he’s been complimenting your work and accomplishments.”

Guess Kizakura wasn’t as awful as he was in the bar. Then again, he probably wasn’t as drunk here because of his work ethics. Wait, scratch that. That was a laughable theory.

“Anyhow, here’s your personal E-Handbook which includes a map of the Academy, School Regulations and Student ID,” she continued while handing him a durable rectangular tablet, “it’s your key if you chose to stay at a dorm room and additionally, the locker and changing rooms. Don’t worry about durability as it is essentially unbreakable, but I’d advise you not to lose it.”

Free tablets? No one told him about this, not even Dana. Or maybe this was recent since touch screen devices only became popular in the last decade.

“Is it usable as a normal tablet?” he asked curiously.

“Absolutely. We even installed the best high-end specs so it runs as well as the latest tech and much more.” she informed him robotically.

“Sweet.” Getting a free tablet was a big plus attending this place apparently.

“Your class’ orientation is starting in about twenty minutes, it’s taking place in the gymnasium. Your E-Handbook should direct you there. Take care.” she dismissed him without waiting for his response.

Well, better learn his lesson and not stand there awkwardly again. So he walked away with as little bumbling as possible.

Firing up his Handbook, he tapped on the icon that had an image of a map. The teen presumed it was the rectangular area that had a basketball court outline so he followed the path. A left, then a right down the hall.

Pushing the doors open, he noticed the Nurse’s Office. That would be helpful for his future classmate. A bit past it were the Toilets. Before turning right, he spotted a flight of stairs that lead to the upper floors.

Hajime opened the door and entered the Trophy Room. Tons of first place awards were displayed inside cabinets. Even a golden plated katana was there.

He ignored those for now and went inside the gym.

[-x-]

Halfway through Headmaster Kirigiri’s speech, Hajime had already given up listening. He imagined the orientation of Hope’s Peak would be different, but nope. Still the same boring old speeches with _just_ a sprinkle of hope talk in there.

Meanwhile, a white-haired dude was gushing in front of him. Hinata leaned to a certain degree that he spotted a line of glint from his chin. Wait, was he drooling? Great… more weirdos. Hopefully, that dude was the exception.

And of course, it wouldn’t be right if the Universe didn’t mess with him.

So immediately afterwards, some girl with multi-colored dyed hair in the back started yelling and talking about how she was gonna make a banger out of… something, anything she said next was an incomprehensible mess. Optimistically, he hoped that wasn’t her singing voice.

Another dude to his right yelling about how much he wanted to ‘SHIT!’, Hajime didn’t really have the courage to tell the guy off considering how huge and muscular said person was. Bad phrasing but still, the dude was generating electricity from his eyes for god’s sake!

The person right next to him was so busy staring intensely at the back of the blonde foreigner ahead that he wasn’t noticing anything happening around him. Not even the girl neighboring the blonde who was _crying_ took his attention. The bartender willingly left him alone.

Some chuuni sitting next to a blonde loli with a banana-looking ponytail was making a spiel on how he was reciting a dark text from some cursed ancient text while doing satanic hand patterns. Hajime wasn’t too into occult stuff, but he was 100% sure it didn’t work like that.

A tanned chick with a revealing cleavage was shaking a small chubby dude right next to her while demanding(screaming) some meat. He… doesn’t even know how that came up. Maybe he was their class’ Ultimate Cook or something. Poor guy didn’t know what to do.

The rest of them cheered and hollered or remained in silence, not bothered the least bit; with the sole exception being the red-headed girl to his left. She was at a loss and slack-jawed, he assumed she'd never witnessed or dealt with any insane human beings in her life.

He had Dana and a drunk Kizakura to thank for that. But with his latest observations on his class, it seemed the bartender had more to learn to appropriately master the act of dealing with ‘insanity incarnates.’

At least he wasn’t alone in this one. So, he decided to speak to his only probable ally, crossing his fingers he doesn’t mess this up.

“So uh.... our classmates are sorta crazy aren't they?” he said, leaning in to her. There wasn’t any point in whispering since everyone around them were basically yelling.

“Y-You can say that again,” she replied in a shaken tone, “I never imagined myself to be in this position, I mean who would?”

“Someone who had previous encounters with these types.” he answered her.

“Well, it’s my first ever one.” the girl said. _‘Right on the money.’_

Then added, “With how direct your response was, I’m assuming you worked with mental institutes?”

“If you can call my part time job that, but even then, I think these people are in another realm of craziness,” he chuckled and let his eyes dart around the individuals surrounding them, “My boss graduated from Hope’s Peak and she’s pretty nutty.”

“Think it’s a trait of Ultimates?” the redhead asked curiously.

“Could be. Most Ultimates are known to have pretty deep backstories to have their talents grow and develop,” he hypothesized, “Some are even borderline or outright traumatic. As a result, they acquire pretty eccentric personalities.”

“Wow, you really did your research on them huh?” she tilted her head, “I don’t particularly consider myself eccentric, so I’m guessing I’m normal.”

“That means we're the rarer bunch here,” he nodded his head, “Not to say my life wasn’t a struggle, but I came out surprisingly ordinary.”

“Same. Though, instead of being weird, I became more independent in the household.”

“Another responsible person entering my life? How miraculous!” he announced in a mock-accent.

“What? Is everyone you know a sloth of some kind?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Nah, they just need some special help from a sensible human.” That got her to chuckle.

“Sounds like my deadbeat dad,” the bartender could hear resentment leaking from her tone, “He just loafs around the house after his labor job that he only recently got because I kept pressing and mocking him about being unemployed and unreliable.”

“Least you’re not following on his footsteps.” he tried to look on the bright side of things.

“Oh I would dread to.” she looked offended.

“That’s step one to not turn into an unreliable freeloader,” he pointed out, “step two is working towards the other way, being productive.”

“Oh I know, that’s one of my main principles,” she affirmed with a strong intensity, “and it’s definitely gonna apply here if we want to keep our classmates under control.”

“The responsible students being a limited resource… sounds like fun…” Hajime grumbled.

“Hey, you still haven’t proven to me that you’re as mature as you describe yourself to be.” her olive green eyes stared at his own.

“I’ll try to back that up as soon as I can, Miss Photographer.” he shot back now noticing that the strap was connected to a professional camera on her hip.”

“I hope you don’t disappoint me too much, Mister Bartender,” she quipped back, how’d she find out about his talent? Apparently reading his expression she answered, “Oh, you have that distinct alcohol or bar smell that I recognized.”

“Alcohol smell? I thought I did my laundry well enough…” he always reminded himself to double scrub his uniform, which was his favorite button-up and black jeans.

She then added, “It's not just the laundry, your skin can also give off the smell.” Wait… did that mean he smelled like liquor even in Kodaka High? No wonder his classmates' noses crinkled when they walked past.

“Not the best first opinion you could have on someone, especially when you’re right next to them,” she bluntly stated, making Hajime’s mood a smidgen worse, “But it’s understandable, you’re the Ultimate Bartender after all. It’s the talent you cultivated.”

Well, that was a turnaround… “Thanks for that, I’ll try to do better next time,” he appreciated her insight, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name’s Hajime Hinata, Ultimate Bartender.”

He extended his hands which she gladly took.

“Mahiru Koizumi, Ultimate Photographer.” they firmly shook hands establishing their newfound connection. He fantasized some glass cracking sounds, a tarot card manifesting and a divine voice describing his newly formed bond.

Was he starting to go crazy? Damn he really needed more sleep.

“Are you alright there, Hinata?” she broke off the handshake, “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I’m fine, I just thought of something really weird… anyways,” he shook his head and redirected her concerns ‘eloquently,’ “Small talk. How was school before Hope’s Peak?”

“Smooth... You already got me to talk about home life and that’s how you ask me about school?” she teased him.

“O-Oh um… yeah...?”

“Jeez, talk about subtlety.”

_‘Nice job Hajime! Second embarrassment of the day checked off the list.’_

The teen cultivated another semi-talent alongside his main one: the art of small talk.

Being a bartender for over two years meant you’ve talked quite a lot to a diverse amount of personalities and individuals which resulted in him developing a silver tongue over the years.

He can easily persuade people to start talking about their lives if he wanted to. Extracting the information hardly anyone knew with the help of a little good booze. Not even the most closed-off person in the world would notice his intentions, much less stop them.

Speech pattern detection in the first five minutes of conversation? Child’s play. 

To people familiar to him, he doesn’t necessarily have to use this. But to new clients, with his eloquent diction and skill in mixology, transforming them into a regular was near undemanding.

This was how he saved the bar from closing unassisted. Boosting profit approximately forty times, tripling the customers they get per night and overturning the JTC’s decision of closing down their business.

He’d never seen his Boss so proud and scared of his abilities.

Reading body language was another aspect he was adept at. He could spot clients’ tics and movements effortlessly; any form of it, even the slightest ones. His trained eye could spot them. Even Jill’s private investigator regular lost to him. And that guy had years of trained experience. 

Of course, he wasn’t perfect. To all his skill in idle chat, he was quite oblivious to emotions and how they work. Ironic that the people closest to him are the ones he could read the least.

At his worst, he’d let his irritation take over and blow up. At his best, lying to the teen was virtually futile.

Luckily, he barely knows anything about the person before him so it should be a piece of cake.

It should’ve been...

He realized when he shook her hands that this was the first time he was having a proper conversation to a person his age of the opposite sex. All the girls in his previous school preferred to avoid him ever since he was labelled as a ‘Drowsy Pomeranian.’

He was used to conversing with adults, not girls his age dammit!

_‘Calm down, Hajime… just maintain your professional barman persona, don’t overdo it though.’_

“Well, pretty normal in terms of a Middle School and High School. I had some friends and had adequate grades. The only abnormal thing was me being exempt from classes when I have a contest or gallery to attend.” Koizumi only gave him trivial details of her life. That was to be expected considering they’ve only known each other for a grand total of ten minutes.

Of course ignoring the fact that she already voiced out her not-so-pleasant opinions on her father, maybe it was something she was used to saying, “How about you?”

“Mostly the same. I just didn’t have the blessing of skipping classes when I had a shift since it’s at night,” he exaggerated a sigh, “So as a countermeasure, I took a nap anytime I can. Breaks, Lunchtime, you name it.”

“But why even take an overnight shift bartending job in the first place?” she questioned him.

“Because I had to support my old man and me. That was the first job or probably _only_ job I could take at the time,” he explained his past circumstance in brief detail, “As an added bonus, I already had some form of experience in the field.”

“Seems you’re more reliable than I thought,” that sounded like he was starting to turn her opinion on him, key word: starting, “But, what motivated you to stay? Surely you could’ve left after you dug your family out of the hole.”

“Because I enjoyed bartending and the people there,” his face expressed glee and nostalgia, “From my boss, to my co-workers, to the patrons, I couldn’t get enough of their smiling faces when I satisfied them with my drinks and made their night.”

“Sounds lovely, you must’ve created a lot of memories with them.” she said brushing her fingers on her camera.

“I did yes, and I could show you a few pictures. Besides, it’s not like I didn’t endure some crap along the way,” the glee transformed into irritation, “You don’t know the type of escapades these people get into. Losing your mind isn’t out of the question.”

“I can’t really relate at the moment but,” she surveyed their surroundings, a chair was flung across the room towards the stage or more specifically, the podium, “Soon enough, I might.”

Hajime saw the chair impact the podium and broke into pieces; surprisingly not breaking its target. Searching for the root of the cause, he found that the tanned chick and the buff dude that he only now recognized were fighting.

Standing up and running to the bleacher to avoid getting sucked in the spar, he noticed a few students, including Koizumi, had the same idea.

Looking back to the podium, he assumed that the Headmaster was hiding behind it.

“If I’m not forced to deal with our future classmates, I won’t. I’ve already got a lot on my plate.” he said while watching said classmates trash the floor and chairs around them.

Kirigiri peeked his head out to see if there was any danger. He pulled out his phone, presumably to contact security or staff.

**“This marks the end of the Orientation, please proceed to the exit. There will be a staff member to guide you for your measurements.”** he announced before walking off to the door.

“Wait, what measurements?” Mahiru asked, surprised.

[-x-]

After calming down the wrecking havoc, his class’ destination was the nurse’s office. It was split by gender, the boys in front and girls behind them, so he couldn’t talk to the only person he slightly knew.

The guide was explaining that Hope’s Peak needed their basic body measurements. Height and weight, he understood. But, chest size? Why would they ever need that? Was the school secretly perverted?

He gave them the benefit of the doubt and presumed it was for their school uniforms that the school will make for them. Speaking of which, those uniforms looked _awful._ For all their prominence, the school chose the color brown to represent the Ultimates. Great choice, guys. Thumbs up.

In any case, the staff also said they would take some blood samples to test if they had any genetic or current diseases. Although he was afraid, it was also good to be knowledgeable of your own health.

Hypocritical of him to say considering his last check up was almost five years ago. Hajime was just thankful he only ever got the occasional fever or cold and not something bigger.

Back on the topic of Hope’s Peak being creepy, why would they ask for their ‘Likes and Dislikes’? For what purpose would it serve? To inform other students of your distaste for certain things? Wouldn’t this reinforce pranks and high jinks around the campus?

And as the cherry on top, they were posting it on the Student Profile for everyone to freely see.

This school was weird. Almost as weird as its students. Or maybe they just don’t care. Who knew at this point...

Hajime felt someone lightly tapping on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw the dude with the hot pink hair earlier… the same one who had stalkery vibes around him while staring at the blonde. Doesn’t help that he reeked of mechanical oil while wearing a blue jumpsuit and a cap in school.

“Yo, how’d you talk to the redhead from earlier?” the cap-wearing boy promptly asked in a semi-whisper manner, blocking his mouth from the view of others and leaning in close.

“What?” Hajime showed a quizzical expression.

“How. Did. You. Talk. To the redhead?” Leaning in closer and repeating his question at a slower pace.

“I… talked to her?” The bartender backed up and was still confused.

“Yeah, but how?”

“Dude, can you clarify? I don’t understand what you’re saying.” he put his hand to his hip and demanded an explanation.

“How can you just talk to a chick like that?! Do you have nerves of steel?!” Apparently, he gave up in staying discreet. A few people glanced in their direction.

_‘Ah… so that’s what he meant...’_

“I just started a conversation with her? You know, like any normal person would?”

“Any normal person would be shaking in their shoes when talking to girls in the first place!”

_“Pretty sure that’s just you.”_ the bartender muttered. 

“Huh?”

“Nothing, anyways. Why are you even asking me this?” he asked the pink-haired boy.

“Oh, uh, I wanted some tips on how to... _talk to girls._ ” unsurprisingly lowering his volume, he looked down at the ground.

“I literally just chatted with her. Not anything special done. I’m not the best teacher out there, but if you really want some conversation lessons, I’ll try to help you out.”

“Foreal?! Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” he wrapped his arm around his neck, “Name’s Kazuichi Soda, Ultimate Mechanic.”

“I’m Hajime Hinata, Ultimate Bartender.” Only now has Hinata noticed the other boy's shark-like teeth. Those looked like they could bite through metal.

“Nice to meet’cha!” the mechanic laid his other hand on the back of his head.

“Nice to meet you too.” he met Kazuichi’s smile with his own infectious one.

“Must be nice to be born good-looking…” he hung his head and detached his arm, “So, why don’t we get to know each other? That’s what normal people ask right? Is it?”

“Dude, I look average as hell. And I think so…? Lemme start,” Hajime mulled over the topics they could discuss, “What kind of hobbies do you… let’s finish this later.”

By this point, the class has already reached its destination. The guide instructed the boys to enter first and the girls to wait outside by the door, supervised by another staff member. So they went in.

A hired doctor told them to line up by height by the wall of the room.

He was in the middle of the pack. Behind Nekomaru ‘SHIT’ Nidai, the Chuuni and the white-haired drooling boy; but in front of Soda, Chubby Rose Cheeks, Boss Baby and Beady Eyes. All in order.

They first asked them to stand one-by-one on the white screen and took portraits of them. He hoped he at least looked semi-decent on that. Or at least not seem like a moron.

It didn’t help that he was only wearing a plain white button-up shirt with a Kodaka High green tie and jeans. How was he supposed to know there was a photo op on orientation day?

Afterwards, they asked them to remove their shoes and stand before the stadiometer to measure their heights. It seemed that he grew quite a bit, from 176cm to 179cm in two months. Not bad considering his piss-poor sleeping schedule and god-awful diet.

Then, they had to remove their shirts or hoodies to measure their chest size. Seriously, what was up with this Academy? Was this seriously the best school in all of Japan?

Having to put his shirt back on for this made him feel more insecure than he ever has been.

Next up, the boys all got to sit down and have a syringe puncture them. Buff-dude was simple enough, no complaints from him. Same with Drooler and Chuuni, barring the crazy talk coming from the latter. His was easy, he was sorta nervous but got through.

Shit went down when Soda started freaking out about dying from a needle. Took the doctor three minutes of convincing him he was gonna be fine. But when he sat down and the tiny steel pricked him, he immediately passed out. The nurse carried his body and laid it on one of the vacant beds.

The rest were relatively normal compared to the Mechanic’s. They took all their properly labeled blood vials and explained how it was going to work.

The gist of it was, the doctors were going to run some tests and determine if they have an illness. If a student does, they’ll try their best to treat it or in the worst case scenario, delay it. Pretty much reiterating the staffs’ point from earlier but adding minor details.

What he found interesting throughout it all was that Drooler was slightly shaking and balled up his fists. His face looked so distant and his eyes had an expression of acceptance. Was he dying? Shaking his head, Hajime reminded himself that it was not his own business.

For the final phase, they simply asked them their likes and dislikes. He said ‘Orange Juice and Kusamochi’ for the positive and ‘Drunkards and Sakuramochi’ for the negative. He seriously hoped Kizakura sees that.

They had to wait for a bit for Soda to wake up before the boys could end their turn.

[-x-]

All their E-Handbooks pinged once everyone was done. An ‘UPDATED’ notification was added next to ‘Students’ application. Hajime tapped on it.

An icon dubbed ‘Class 77-B’ flashed open with all their portraits on display. The left side was boys, the right side was girls. He touched his own pixelated face and all the details taken prior were present. A ‘Hajime Hinata’ title was displayed at the top.

This seemed like the kind of ‘over the top’ness he was expecting from Hope’s Peak. Before he could click on his classmates’ icons, a staff member told the students to trail them.

Hajime walked next to the pink-haired mechanic and got back to the conversation from earlier.

“As I was _saying_ earlier, what kind of hobbies do you have?” he reasked.

“Tinkering and messing with machines. Generally just having fun with ‘em.” Kazuichi’s face produced a smile.

"What type of fun are we talking about here?" the class went up the staircases. Some people talked to each other and some preferred to stay quiet. He saw Koizumi chatting up with Banana Hair and Uneven Cuts, Dyed Horns cutting in on their talk.

“Enhancing something to the point of breaking the law or modifying something inherently useless into something handy, I’ve always had fun doing those,” Soda explained, “I’m actually making a bike that has a top speed of 585 miles per hour.”

“585?! How did you even do that? That’s as fast as a plane!” he was amazed but also flabbergasted by the declaration.

“Glad you asked, I added a few Turbochargers that’s connected to the engine and three bottles of nitrous oxide for boosts. Mixed in with some G-force resistant compound of chains and metal. Now, the main problem at the moment are the tires-” his enthusiasm was practically oozing out of his mouth.

A few more moments of explanation that Hajime clearly didn’t understand, they all left the staircases and set foot on the third floor. At least his class didn’t have to be on the highest floor like his previous school.

That was a hell of a trek every morning. It was even worse for him than the average student since he never got much consistent sleep. He was glad humankind discovered coffee beans or he would’ve collapsed half the time he had to scale those stairs.

“-and so with that, if I did my math right, I should be able to finish making it. You get the picture?” the mechanic asked, staring curiously at him.

“Not really…? I mean, I’m not really an expert in basic mechanics,” he clarified his standing on the matter, “Much less whatever complicated stuff you were blabbing about.”

“Well, damn. Should’ve warned me before I went on my rant.”

_‘Fair.’_

“Least I know what your hobbies are now.” The bartender shrugged his shoulders. Their class and the guide turned a corner and reached their classrooms.

The guide said that their homeroom teacher should be inside to instruct them on what to do next and left. The foreigner slid the door open and entered first. The rest of them followed.

As the class was trickling inside the classroom, Hajime saw who their homeroom teacher was: Koichi Goddamn Kizakura.

What. The. Hell.

Ignoring the drunkard for now, he fast walked towards the seat at the far-left end of the room facing the blackboard. Kizakura for sure noticed his surprise and was snickering at him.

Everyone got into their seats and their first ever class in Hope’s Peak began.

[-x-]

And it was promptly ended when Kizakura announced that classes weren’t mandatory.

Well to be fair, he let the class introduce themselves to the others first before he broke the news.

"We'll go from the first row, then second, third, and finally the row next to the windows," the fedora-wearing man lazily instructed, "Go ahead, come up in front and introduce yourselves."

The first guy walked forward like a JoJo character. Or tried to anyways.

"Listen well foolish, lowly mortals!" he said chuckling and posing menacingly, "I am what they dubbed the Supreme Overlord of Ice! Bow before the illusive Gundham Tanaka! I have tamed countless demonic beasts from the Nine Infernos of Hell all the way to Asmodeus’ Stronghold!"

Hajime gave up deciphering whatever the hell that was and just checked his E-Handbook. On the row nearest to the door, was Gundham ‘Chuuni’ Tanaka, the Ultimate Breeder or in his own terms: The Supreme Overlord of Ice.

The bartender never thought he would have never met someone who hasn't grown out of the Middle School Syndrome, but here he was listening to this dude boisterously narrate how he supposedly tamed the ‘Nine Beasts of Hell’ while his scarf swayed back and forth his chest.

A girl came up next. She didn’t have the best disposition with how badly she was shaking.

"U-Uh, m-my name's Mikan Tsu-Tsumiki," her introduction was already falling apart, "And I-I'm the Ultimate N-Nurse! Um… I’m sorry!” _‘Why is she apologizing?’_

Tsumiki quickly ran back to her seat but accidentally tripped and somehow ended up in a spread eagle position. The bandages around her limbs somehow wrapped around the legs of the desks and trapped her.

“I’M SORRRYYYYYY!!!” Everyone nearby helped her get herself back together while profusely asked for forgiveness without end.

Behind Tanaka was Mikan ‘I’M SORRY!!!’ Tsumiki, the Ultimate Nurse. Apologies here, apologies there, apologies everywhere was probably, most likely, definitely her favorite quote. Seriously, this girl would _not_ stop apologizing even after they told her it was okay.

Next up was a short dude with an edgy haircut.

“I’m only gonna say this once so you better remember it, name’s Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu and I’m the Ultimate Yakuza.” well that… was slightly concerning. Hajime gave himself a reminder to never once verbalize his thoughts of calling the dude ‘Boss Baby’ lest he wanted his body to never be found.

Though, he still couldn’t believe Hope’s Peak accepted a literal Yakuza, or even better; the heir to the single biggest Yakuza clan in all of Japan. What’s next, a Biker Gang Leader? Murderous Fiend? Wouldn’t be too far off if he was being honest.

He walked back aggressively while the gray-haired girl went up.

“My name is Peko Pekoyama,” that was a pretty adorable name, “The Ultimate Swordswoman.” Hajime’s eyes bursted open when he heard that. He glanced over to her table which had a literal KATANA beside it. Yep, better not mess with her and those intimidating, scary red eyes.

“It is nice to meet you all.” _‘That’s_ very _reassuring…’_

With the first row done, it was time for the foreigner to introduce herself. And he can finally stop calling her that.

“My name is Sonia Nevermind,” she said in crisp Japanese, “I am from a small European Country called Novoselic which gave the title Ultimate Princess. I sincerely hope we get along well. And please, I insist you all address me as Sonia instead.”

Holy crap they had an actual princess in their class. Her poise and grace were definitely as disciplined as one would expect when they ever meet a princess. She elegantly bowed and strode back to her spot.

After her was Marshmallow Hair.

“I don’t think I’m talented enough or even worthy to be here,” His eyes looked down at his hands, silently observing it, “Yet, Hope’s Peak Academy deemed that I’m allowed to be in these halls and who am I to refuse the Academy of Hope?”

“I’m Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student.” he casually smiled as if he didn’t voice out those self-deprecating beliefs, “I was chosen randomly in a lottery, so feel free to use scum like me as a stepping stone for Hope.”

With that over he sat back down and the next student proceeded to introduce themselves.

“Yo! The name’s Akane Owari!” not noticing the downcast mood, she unintentionally lightened it up a bit, “And I’m the Ultimate Gymnast.” she pointed her thumb at herself. Or her chest to be specific.

That made him remember that hell he was put through by breasts. According to some video he watched on a streaming site, the scariest thing ever possible was suffocation. So, he had a good reason to not be excited when seeing a big pair of honkers displayed before him. A few of his classmates would disagree with him of course, but he felt indifferent.

He shuddered while the tallest and most muscular person went in front.

“I AM THE ULTIMATE TEAM MANAGER, NEKOMARU NIDAI!!!” he roared at the whole class, generating a minor air blast and blowing some dust around the classroom.

_‘Way to shatter our eardrums, you prick!’_

Hajime put both his hands on his ears to block out _some_ noise that Nekomaru’s vocal chords produced. He looked around to see that a few of his classmates had this brilliant idea. “You all better not forget that!”

Thanking the gods that that was over, the next row was up and so was one of the two people he has interacted with.

“Nice to meet you all! I’m Kazuichi Soda,” shark-teeth fully shown in all its glory when he smiled and waved at the class. “And my talent’s the Ultimate Mechanic!”

Besides his weird obsession with Sonia and talking with chicks, Hinata considered Kazuichi to be a pretty normal and chill guy. He was very upstanding and passionate about his talent, undoubtedly deserving his Ultimate title.

Up next was the red-headed photographer and the other person he was familiarized with.

“Let’s see… I’m Mahiru Koizumi,” She introduced herself, reaching out to her strapped highly expensive camera, “As you can see, I’m the Ultimate Photographer so please don’t mind if I take a picture of some of you, it’ll be mostly girls though. And this is a message for the boys in class, don’t be unreliable and act tough when you’re not.”

With that note which no doubt offended some if not every boy, she strutted back to her place and the next dude went up.

“I’ll be introducing myself now,” he simply waved, “I’m Ryota Mitarai, the Ultimate Animator.”

The bartender couldn’t really say anything about this plump boy. He was never really that into animations in general because his family couldn’t afford a TV, much less buying a useless channel subscription.

The disinterested chick came next in line, holding her portable console in her hands.

“Um, I’m Chiaki *clicks* Nanami…” she was presenting herself while playing a damn video game! She doesn’t even bother to look at everyone, “The *clicks* Ultimate Ga… *click*...mer. Nice to meet *clicks* you all…”

Retro-bit sound effects with mass taps and button-pushes accompanying it were heard as she marched back to her seat. _‘Does she not give a single fuck?’_ Games were apparently far more interesting than introducing herself properly, he guessed she was close to beating her high-score or something. Even then, it took a lot of balls to do it in the first place.

Banana Hair girl was up next.

“Kyahaha, I might as well introduce myself to you losers,” we got another antagonizer in a short-statured body ladies and gentlemen... “I’m Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer.”

She was acting like she was better than everybody by being born into a distinguished family, Hajime wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it might prove to be harder to pull off with her demeanor so far.

A slightly taller, chubby chef came after her.

“My name is Teruteru Hanamura, I might be known on the streets as the Ultimate Cook,” he pulled out a white comb and brushed his hair with it, “but please call me the Ultimate Chef instead. It has far more big-city flavor to it.”

Alright, Hanamura seemed respectful enough-

“And ladies, please don’t hesitate to contact me whenever you want~.”

Nevermind… of course he just _had_ to be a pervert.

“You fellas can do so as well~,” he winked cheekily at the boys in class, now making all of them including the teacher, utterly disgusted. What made it worse was that the cook looked so satisfied with himself. Hajime bleached his brain as much as he could to rid of that winking image of the chef.

The Horned Girl went next. One more person before he was up on the chopping block.

“Heya!! I’m Ibuki Mioda!” she put forth a confident attitude and somehow grew her nose into something you could stab someone with, “My talent is the Ultimate Musician. Now, I kinda wished I brought my guitar to give you guys a taste but oh well!”

Ibuki seemed like the person to not have the best attention span. Radiating an aura similar to his Boss, he felt somewhat nostalgic. But those two meeting would make for an excellent recipe for disaster. Dana was a big fan of Black Cherry, so he added that to the pile of disasters waiting to happen.

She swiftly skipped to her table while Hajime pushed his chair back.

“My name is Hajime Hinata,” he didn’t want his introduction to be too long, so he decided to do the blandest one possible and get it over with as quickly as he can, “and my talent’s the Ultimate Bartender.”

With that he left the center stage and went back to his table. Gladly thanking Kizakura for not messing with him and ruining his first impression. To be fair, it wasn’t the grandest but it was certainly better than what that drunkard put together.

“That’s a wrap! You kids can go home now, but before that lemme tell you all something,” he cleared his throat, “These types of classes aren’t mandatory. Meaning, as long as you hone your talent, you can skip class and do whatever you want to.”

That translated in Hajime’s brain to: you can freely have your sleep now. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, and thank god he wasn’t. Staying home and hibernating was his type of heaven.

[-x-]

He waited for everyone to leave and told Soda to wait for him near the stairs. As he presumed Nanami would call it, he was now completing his side-quest. He walked up to the man.

“Well, well, well, we meet again Kizakura-san.” he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Kid, you sound like a lame and cheesy 90’s villain, don’t do that,” he bluntly pointed out, “You want something from me?”

“Yes, and I’ll be straight to the point. I wanted to thank you,” Hinata bowed gratefully without hesitation, astonishing Kizakura, “for giving me the opportunity to turn my life around.”

“Woah, it’s fine. You deserve this anyways.” he tried to wave off the gratitude.

“No, you’re not humbling your way out of this,” but failed, “I really owe you, Kizakura-san. Without this, I probably would’ve had a job I didn’t like after college. But now I can pursue my passion in mixology for the rest of my life without risk.”

“Take it easy there, kid,” he held out his hands in a stopping motion, “Like I said, you deserve this, you have the talent and-”

“But without your input, I would’ve never been scouted in the first place,” interrupting Kizakura and his excuses, “so, I thank you for that.”

Hajime wrapped him in a hug. He ended up doing what he dreaded but he didn’t care, his words weren’t enough to express his gratitude for the man. After a few seconds, he felt two arms embrace him.

This went for about five seconds, “So, are we done here?” before Kizakura ruined it. Hajime pushed him off harshly as payment.

“Did you have to ruin the moment?” he asked.

“Didn’t know we were having one.” Now the guy was pushing it.

“Are you _trying_ to piss me off?”

“I don’t really have to try to accomplish that.” he barely avoided a swat to the head, chuckling heartily.

“Fine, I’ll just leave now. I did what I had to do, so whatever.” Hajime began to walk towards the exit. Glancing back at the man who was grinning. He reached for the door handle and before he could slide it open, Kizakura spoke.

“It wasn’t just me, you still had to develop your talent to a level of an Ultimate. Proud of ya for making it here, kid.” the man expressed visible contentment on his face with a simple smile.

“Thank you.”

With that, Hinata left the room and met up with his new friend. Then regretting to realize that he forgot to ask why Kizakura hadn't visited the bar once for a whole month when he got home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That wraps up this chapter. Might come back and get my friend to beta read this with me.
> 
> In case you haven’t realized, this fic is kind of a slow-burn. So, I hope adding a sprinkle of ‘humor’ helps lessen that slow-burness a little bit.
> 
> Also, I noticed some parallels between Ryuji from P5 and Kazuichi and couldn’t resist making that reference.
> 
> Next chapter should be shorter since it’s a transition from Kizakura to Yukizome as the 77-B homeroom teacher.


	3. A Disturbance of Peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I watched Despair Arc’s first episode and include(rip-off) most of it because it's a better reintroduction than what I could ever write.
> 
> Been 2 years since I last saw it, and holy balls nostalgia hits hard. Sadly my children’s lives will eventually get ruined by Junko ;-;. Still dunno if I’ll change that here though.
> 
> I (somewhat) tried not to copy and paste most of the scenes and add some level of detail that I could, excluding the original Hajime ones of course.
> 
> Also, this [-x-x-] means character POV switch; this one [-x-] means scene change. I generally don't like using line breaks because this provides more clarity and it’s easier to format.
> 
> Onto the chapter!

[-x-]

Hajime wrapped his silky blanket around his frame as he positioned himself on his futon. Ready to fall into a deep slumber from his overnight shift in Valhalla.

He acquired the peace he’s wished for in over two years of bartending.

No need for constant naps around school since it wasn’t mandatory anymore. Taking that chance as soon as he could, he felt more energized than ever. Sleep was far more critical than attending classes and learning information he didn’t need.

In fact, he hasn’t stepped foot in Hope’s Peak in over two months. The school faculty let the bartender be since he informed them that he would rather cultivate his talent in his job than letting them build him one of their new experiments this year: the Research Labs.

Research Labs were essentially stations that ensured that Ultimate Students get to further refine their talents without being hindered by lack of resources. They were chock-full of fundamentals for the specific talent of the student.

All the ingredients and equipment free of charge by the academy’s funding, it was a bartender’s dream. The staff has even stated that they would hire and commission some professional cocktail tasters. Although those things seemed  _ really _ enticing to utilize, he refused.

He was told that they were constructing them in the new Main Course building, which in turn was also in its construction phase. They had already finished the first few floors, so it wouldn’t obstruct the developments of the Research Labs.

Main Course students could still request their Labs to be built elsewhere if they so choose. It ranged from empty classrooms in the old building, a random spot in the Academy’s premises or a talent-specific club room, though it was recommended to be built in the new building for convenience sake.

It was such a tease, still, nothing could compare to the satisfaction of captivating your clients with a heavenly harmonized drink then engaging in a cordial idle chat.

While on the subject, his clients were slightly unsettled by his change in attitude. His previous realistic, cynical, sarcastic but semi-welcoming tone were replaced by a  _ much  _ more friendly, amicable and receptive one. People felt weirded out. Even Hajime.

Not that it was a bad thing however, stress levels have never been this low since he was an infant. Meaning, his short anger fuse for BS has been increased significantly. Meaning, the quality of his work magnified.  _ Meaning,  _ he was a much better bartender.

His co-workers have also expressed their confusion to his personality-shift. Unsurprisingly, Dana had the least to say, only taken aback for a tiny moment before eventually shrugging it off as the new norm.

Gil still hasn’t gotten to it(and probably never will), staring at him like he was a total stranger and not his virtually adoptive brother. Hajime hasn’t seen his senpai this bothered over something since his sister’s hallucinations about a dead girl.

Jill was convinced someone had kidnapped the ‘real Hajime’ and replaced him with a carbon copy imposter. Given that she thought that he could never be this easygoing, he was pretty hurt by that theory.

He still can’t believe his lack of sleep affected his life to such a degree. His return to form dug out his tolerance buried deep down in his psyche. You aren’t gonna see him complain about that, ‘patience is a virtue’ after all.

Yawning suddenly, his body was ordering him to sleep. He gladly obliged.

[-x-x-]

Chisa Yukizome pushed the door open to the Headmaster’s Office for her interview with Jin Kirigiri. She wasn’t too nervous about it since he already knew the man from her High School days and that one of the most highly regarded alumnus in Hope’s Peak, Kyosuke Munakata, recommended her.

Her place was as a teacher was basically guaranteed.

She spotted another staff member she was acquainted with, the Academy’s Scout, Koichi Kizakura leaning on an arm rest. Hiding his eyes with his white fedora, he looked awfully green. She pretended not to see him for now and walked towards Jin’s table.

“Welcome back, Yukizome-kun.” he greeted her with a wave.

“Happy to be here, Kirigiri- kōchō .” waving back at the man.

“Now… let’s get directly into business,” he folded his hands together, “Munakata-kun specifically recommended you to be an educator. So, if I am to believe his words, you should be a fine fit for our staff.”

“Thank you very much.” she was internally thanking her friend for hooking her up, even if it was for their operation.

“Yukizome-kun… I’m assigning you to be the assistant homeroom teacher to Class 77-B.” he authorized and handed her teacher’s card.

“Hai, Kirigiri- kōchō!” she smiled, picking it up.

“You’ve only just graduated,” Jin stared directly at her, “so it may be difficult, but I’m counting on you.”

Vomiting sounds echoed in the room. The Headmaster lowered his head in embarrassment while Chisa simply laughed it off. They both knew very well where that noise came from. She turned her head to see a clearly hungover man.

“Kizakura-kun! I told you to stop drinking alcohol before work…!” Jin scolded the scout.

“My bad, my bad,” he excused himself, covering his mouth in the process, “I had a bit too much to drink last night… those damn cocktails were too good to pass up.”

He immediately went back to preventing himself from throwing up, covering back his mouth and swallowing his saliva. Her attention went back to the Headmaster.

“Sorry for this,” he apologized on his friend’s behalf, “as you can see, the current homeroom teacher isn’t too keen on being responsible, so I think you might have some trouble keeping your new class in check.”

“Feel free to treat the class like it’s your own!” Kizakura pumped his arm into the air and subsequently went back to a coughing fit.

“I will! Leave it to me-” she unfortunately hit her chest with her hand too hard causing her to cough excessively like the blonde-haired man.

Jin simply watched this situation in disbelief. He observed them like a visitor in a zoo would to the animals.

“Yukizome, before you leave,” Koichi handed her a small paper with something written on it, “here’s something you’ll need for later.”

“Thanks, Kizakura-san,” she rapidly took it and ran towards the exit, “And excuse me for almost choking!” slamming the door closed.

[-x-]

With the class planner in hand, Chisa excitedly slid the door open of room 1-B expecting most students to be present.

“Good morning!...” she greeted her new, nearly empty class, “...wait, there’s only four of you?”

“Good morning.” At least the blonde girl with the headband greeted her. She recognized all the attending students since she overlooked the Student Records of her class. This girl was Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess.

The boy in the back with a not so proper, feet on the table posture huffed. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, Ultimate Yakuza.

“Oh? What’s this?” the other blonde girl dressed in a yellow floral-patterned kimono with a banana-esque hairstyle noticed her presence. Hiyoko Saionji, Ultimate Traditional Dancer. “Some woman I’ve never seen just came in.”

“Um, can I ask who you are?” the redheaded girl next to Saionji-san rightfully asked. Mahiru Koizumi, Ultimate Photographer.

“Of course! My name is Chisa Yukizome and starting today, I’m gonna your new teacher,” she answered, introducing herself, “It’s nice to meet you all!”

“Oh, this one looks like she’ll be fun to break.” The traditional dancer was already scheming something, “from her social position, her organs, her life and more! This is gonna be fun...”

Thankfully she was prepared for this. “Don’t you worry. Your teacher has  _ lots  _ of life insurance!” pulling out her numerous amounts of insurance papers.

“I give praise to thee.” Sonia said in imperialized japanese, clearly not noticing her mistake.

“That isn’t how we speak standard Japanese. You’re supposed to say “I commend you” or the more prevalent “Great job”” Mahiru tried to rectify her mistake.

“Hold up, where the hell did Kizakura go?!” Fuyuhiko boisterously demanded, “He’s our homeroom teacher.”

“Kizakura-san is hung over and vomiting.” she announced with a beaming expression.

“Again?” he didn’t sound too surprised, proving Jin’s point about Kizakura’s alcohol problem.

“Sorry I’m late!!” the door slid open again revealing another student, she stepped forward and tripped on thin air. Somehow ending up in a compromising position, knocking down a table and wrapping her wrists with her shoelaces all the same time. “I tripped!”

“You do this sham every morning! Are you a mucky pig? You puke-stinking klutz of a woman!” the traditional dancer darkly told her, humiliating the girl even more.

“I’M SORRY!!!” Mikan Tsumiki, the Ultimate Nurse apologized again.

“There, there…” Yukizome tried her best to calm her down. These kids so far seemed familiarized with one another at least.

“That makes five.” she added, slightly hoping the rest were simply late.

“This may be everyone coming for today.” The princess broke her optimism.

“Huh? Where’re the other students?” the teacher asked.

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Saionji-san disrespectfully replied.

“Probably living their lives and not attending this shitty class, what’s it to you?” Kuzuryu-kun chimed in with his own take.

“Besides, attendance isn’t mandatory at this school, is it?” the photographer brought up the rules of the Academy while waving her E-Handbook, “You just need to sharpen your skills and pass the practical exams in the fall.”

“I-I was trying to attend class-” Tsumiki-san unintentionally gloated before being interrupted by the person behind her.

“Don’t act like such a goody two-shoes! You ain’t special!” The future obayun called her out.

“I’m sorry!” she wilted, nearly crying.

“I see… you all have these disappointing relationships, don't you?”

_ ‘This just won’t do… these kids have a bright future ahead of them and they’re brazenly wasting their youth. This is a crisis that needs solving.’ _

She racked her brain to think of a plan on how she was going to save them. An idea crossed her mind and she immediately got to changing. Pulling out her apron she used in her housekeeping days and tying it over her suit, she began radiating an aura, a particular aura that only belonged to Ultimates.

The students were all dumbfounded by her transformation.

“You’re a Hope’s Peak graduate...?” Mahiru asked, nonplussed.

“Youth only comes once! It’ll never return!” she ignored the question and started monologuing, “How can you not care about you classmates? You kids are all…” they waited for the reprimanding, “rotten oranges!”

“Huh?” everyone didn’t expect nor understood her perceptive words.

“Rotten oranges?” the foreign girl asked.

“Rotten oranges are rotten oranges. They’re sticky, squelchy and squishy!”

“I... I’m sorry!!” As the weather was predicted, so was Tsumiki-san’s apologies. She hid to the side brooding over her ‘mistakes.’

“Huh?! What are you saying?” Saionji-san was still puzzled.

“I’m saying I can’t let this stand. Let’s go and find all your rotten friends! We’re going to take back your lost youth!” she supplemented her words with overblown gestures.

“Eh…” the redhead clearly didn’t buy it. So as a remedy, she ran towards the photographer to justify her clear-cut logic.

“With enough rotten oranges, we can still make youth jam!”

“No, I think you’d just have rotten jam.” she disagreed with her conjecture before getting pushed off her chair by Sonia-san who now shared the same values.

“I think that is wonderful, Yukizome-sensei,” the princess was gushing out and was clearly entranced by her charismatic speech, “This may be what I was hoping for when I knocked at this school’s gate.”

“Sonia-san..” they both held hands in contentment, “Let’s go find the others!”

“Hai!”

“Screw that,” the only boy in class stood in protest, “why should I have to act buddy-buddy with these bozos?”

That was before she pierced a wakizashi through his table, millimeters away from his precious fingers.

“Why, you…” he said, “you tryna cut my fingers off?”

“As a teacher, there are things you must be ready to do to earn a living, Kuzuryu-kun.” getting up close and personal to add hostility.

“Do it if you-”

“There!” she did, barely missing. He looked astounded.

“Y-You…” he pulled her close by the collars, “You’ve got guts.”

“Experience comes with age, I guess.” she pulled up another sword from her pockets and positioned it near his neck.

“You have an impressive resolve. Heh, I like you.” And so with that, she earned his respect.

“Good!” she turned and faced the rest of the students, “Now let’s put some spirit into it and put your butts in gear!”

“Eh?!” Every student voiced out.

[-x-]

Gathering up the rest of the students proved to be more of a capture quest than a simple round up. Having to utilize a student to get another, such a brilliant plan on her part. They started with the closest.

...

Nidai-kun’s retrieval gladly didn’t require much, just patience and durability. He was generating an earthquake inside his stall, it was reasonable to say that the whole school building felt it. A few moments later, an explosion of air happened.

Being the responsible teacher she was, Chisa blocked it for the students near her. Hopefully, Koizumi-san and Saionji-san were okay. The boy excreted so hard that the toilet and anything in the vicinity turned into dust by the shock wave, including a hundred meters worth of grass in his range.

The Ultimate Team Manager walked it off like it was typical behavior with Kuzuryu-kun rightfully berating him. Thankfully, Nidai-kun joined her cause with little to no reluctance.

...

Up next was a Hanamura-kun. The group had Sonia-san ring a bell to call him up. Hearing the bell and smelling the fragrance of a female, he dashed out of the kitchen immediately afterwards. In Chisa’s stead, the princess had requested a piece of meat to apply as bait for a later student.

The Ultimate Cook quickly invaded Sonia-san’s space and asked some repulsive questions. As punishment, the teacher wrapped his entire body with a rope to the ceiling. His creepiness skyrocketed when he undeniably enjoyed the repeated pulls and tightening of his coil.

She let Nidai-kun handle it, but even still, the cook didn’t mind the change in gender. The rest of the class simply watched in horror. So they decided to move on to her next target.

...

With the cook now in her assembly, they set up a grill near the academy’s forest. Kuzuryu-kun gathered up some logs and starter sticks while Koizumi-san nabbed a white fan. Hanamura-kun then started his task of making the bait.

Once the smell of the meat permeated most of the area, a small silhouette jumped off from the roof of the building. Owari-san barrelled towards them with the speed of a bullet. The housekeeper ordered Nidai-kun to pin her down while the others panicked for their lives.

Nidai-kun used his strength to produce multiple explosions that swept through the back end of the school resulting with the Ultimate Gymnast being crucified on a timber inside one of the many craters. The operation was a success! Though they left her tied up so she wouldn’t slip away, the team manager was assigned to carry and keep her at bay.

...

The next one was much simpler, only needing one student as a lure as the gathered class simply waited out of range to avoid the stench. Sonia-san stood before a giant machine that the rest can only deduce as an engine for a giant vehicle. She waited there until a pink ball at the top of the machine appeared.

Soda-kun jumped down to meet his crush, asking her if she brought his snacks. The princess promptly scooted away, presumably by the mechanic's putrid smell of oil(they all, but him, knew it was because of the boy’s stalker-ish conduct). Then withdrawing continuously until she was a few hundred feet away.

The pink-haired boy made a crestfallen expression, almost weeping in the process. Chisa tried consoling him but only worsened his despair when he saw her wearing a full face respirator near him.

...

At his request, Tanaka-kun’s base of operations was hidden deep inside the woods. Dark clouds surrounded the Research Lab, which was essentially a necromantic-themed pyramid; full of eerie statues, spear pillars and torches. A swarm of bats flew by them when he sauntered in their vision.

Thunder was raging in the background during the Ultimate Breeder’s monologue about being the Taboo King and served by the Four Dark Devas of Destruction(hamsters). She was intrigued by his level of eccentricity, he beat even the weirdest of Ultimate Students in that category.

The ‘Dark One’ finished off the spiel by somehow creating a literal blue glowing ignited pentagram. She presumed it was a projection based effect. At least he had no qualms in joining them.

...

Frightening guitar strums alongside ghastly vocals came from the Ultimate Musician’s Research Lab, previously the Light Music Clubroom. All of them entered without Mioda-san noticing, no doubt too occupied on her craft that consisted of roasting meat that resembled a grenade’s frame.

Did she mention that the girl used a flamethrower infused inside her instrument to cook? Well, now she did. The students, with the exception of Saionji-san and herself, covered their ears in vain from the cataclysmic experimental metal music.

To bond with her new student, she stealthily grabbed a free guitar and jammed out. After Mioda-san’s final flame burst, the musician finally noticed everyone. She was pleasantly surprised when she struck a pose and uttered ‘No music!’ and Chisa added ‘No hormone!’

...

The group went upstairs towards the Dojo where a certain Ultimate Swordwoman preferred to meditate. Pekoyama-san was calmly sitting near the closed gates that had the archery section. Chisa approached her, trying her best not to alarm the swordswoman.

It proved to be semi-effective, Pekoyama-san slashed her bokken until it was by a hair’s width from her neck. That confirmed how meticulously trained she was at kendo. Not even phased, she asked the girl to return to class with them.

After apologizing, she complied to her request. The students behind her started some chatter, she could see Mioda-san feeding her red hot barbeque to Kuzuryu-kun; Saionji-san complaining about not being able to take another step and Hanamura-kun regurgitating sexual innuendos so she flung him to the wall with a bokken.

…

Scanning her notebook where she kept her students’ info written, Chisa deduced that Komaeda-kun should be hanging out somewhere around the edge of Hope’s Peak’s premises. Her gathered students remotely following from behind.

Soda-kun conveyed his concern about his unluckiness near the Ultimate Lucky Student before getting run over by a truck. He flew across the road and landed within the school fences. The truck itself impacted a vending machine where, surprise, surprise, Komaeda-kun was.

The white-haired boy voiced his luck when copious amounts of Dr Hopper cans were spewed out of the machine. This gave her the chance to help him with carrying the drinks and obtain her 13th student.

[-x-]

Now back in class to have a small break after Tsumiki-san patched up the injured mechanic.

“You wanted to meet scum like me?” Komaeda-kun self-deprecatingly asked, “what a benevolent teacher!”

“You aren’t scum.” she firmly refuted his opinion on himself, yet doubling down on her own scoldings “but you’re without a doubt a rotten orange!” she was glad the boy laughed it off.

“Neither one is any good.” Kuzuryu-kun pointed out with a wide-eyed expression.

“Alright!” Chisa ignored it, “Only three left… everyone get your butts back in gear and let’s wrap this up!”

“What? I’m exhausted…” Saionji-san demonstrated by laying her chest and chin on her table, “My legs are broken…”

“Broken?!” Tsumiki-san sprinted towards her classmate, concern evident in her face, “A-Are you okay?”

“Stay back, you rotten orange…” she threatened using her newly favored insult.

“Why are you so mean!” the nurse was leaking tears.

“Jeez, seems like you guys ran out of energy left…” Chisa ran her fingertips on the window stool, snagging a lot of dust, she sparked another idea, “I’ll go and get the remaining students then. Could the rest of you clean the classroom?”

“The hell? That sounds like a pain…” Soda-kun rebutted, his whole body wrapped in bandages.

She pulled out her two blades and slammed his table to ‘persuade’ the boy. Totally not threatening.

“Huh?” he asked, not immediately realizing the danger.

“Kindly do it.” she darkened her face again.

“Yes ma’am! Please withdraw the swords! I get the message!”

“Alright! I’m counting on you guys!” With that message, she left the classroom. The housekeeper had high hopes for them.

[-x-]

Chisa arrived at the Former Student Dorms of Hope’s Peak where she spent her school years occupying. She reminisced at the time she spent goofing off with Kyosuke-kun and Juzo-kun. Brushing her fingers on the wall they destroyed in their sparring.

She shook her head,  _ ‘No, I have an objective to accomplish.’  _ According to the school’s data, one of her new students lived here. Ryota Mitarai, the Ultimate Animator. She entered the building and roamed until she saw the right nameplate.

Knocking and greeting him beyond the door seemed to startle the boy. The animator tried excusing himself and claiming that he’d leave once he’s finished five more pages. She didn’t accept the proposition, the others were waiting for her.

As a way of escape, Mitarai-kun ran towards the window. Too bad she predicted this and confronted him. She introduced herself, flashing her ID. In his resistance, he tried to reclose the window but failed when she overpowered the boy.

Having no choice other than to drag him to class, she grabbed his left leg and started marching towards the next student’s address.

Then, she remembered the piece of paper that Kizakura-san gave her. She almost forgot because of her excitement of being a teacher.

**“I knew you were planning on gathering up the non-attending students, so you should probably know this. For Hajime Hinata’s capture, do not hold back. Do not hesitate. He** **_will_ ** **resist. He’s one of the most violent students I’ve scouted. Good luck.”**

Sounded like her biggest troublemaker yet, even worse than Hanamura-kun or Owari-san. Kizakura-san’s portrayal of the boy made her wonder what kind of hellion she was about to encounter. She better prepare herself.

[-x-x-]

Hajime was enjoying his first meal of the day at four in the afternoon. A glass full of his favorite orange juice and an egg sandwich to start his nocturnal cycle. He just woke up about a few minutes ago after his long, crisp and uninterrupted ten full hours of sleep.

Checking out the news and internet business with his E-Handbook, he looked at an article that detailed Hope’s Peak’s New School building. From the absurd estimated cost, the article said that it was the reason for founding the Reserve Course after an interview with a spokesperson.

They summarized the course as a way for normal, non-talented students to enter the prestigious Academy without needing to be scouted and perhaps have the chance for a promotion into the Main Course.

The student’s family though have to pay an absurd amount of tuition money, estimated to be quadruple the amount of private universities.

His eyes bulged at the number, he would never in his life have paid that sum. Not even with the help of his old man. Plus, he was certain he wouldn’t receive any benefit from it other than having a bootleg Hope’s Peak graduation certificate that you could show off to your future employers.

It was like saying, “Hey, I know I cheated my way into this distinguished school, but like, it’s Hope’s Peak. So, will ya accept me or not?” Chances are... no, unless they’re extremely desperate, but most times, no.

Perhaps it was for the chance of promotion to an Ultimate. Hajime thought it to be bait. How would the school proceed to scout that? Which talent would they give? Ultimate Genius? In the off-chance that they did do that. How often would it be? Not frequently for sure, once in a decade at most.

Then again, these families were also extremely desperate for validation, probably forcing their children to enter. They paid a ludicrous tuition for some kind of credibility. If he was in their spot, he wouldn’t even go there! I mean, if you had  _ that _ much to pay, wouldn’t you already be set for life?

Societal norms have pressured their kids to try and be exceptional, constantly bombarding them with praises early in life to help them motivated to try their hardest and be one of the anomalies. Or try the alternative, use somethings’ reputation as a sort of jumping point to the higher echelons.

It frustrated him to no end, throwing money on something you wouldn’t need. He knew he sounded pretentious since he was scouted into the Main Course, yet in what world would he enter the Reserve Course?

Maybe in one where he was blinded by the prestige of Hope’s Peak and the concept of talent. Damn, what kind of despondent loser could he be?

He sipped on his glass to calm his nerves down. It was easy to be mad about the desperation of people for prestige. What was wrong with mediocrity? Absolutely nothing. The hurdles in life have made him realize the unimportance of a person’s status.

Scrolling on through, he saw a bunch of advertisements for a magazine called Nyan-Nyan. And of course, every single one of them included Junko Enoshima in the front cover. Ever since her huge breakout to modelling, she has grown a tremendous following. Enoshima took the country by storm and became its image.

He wouldn’t mind it so much if they would just lay off him. He accidentally clicked on  _ one _ promo, the result was non stop bombardment and his timeline getting clogged. These repeated ads made him wanna pull his hair out.

There was another article that elaborated on a recent raid on nearby banks. DICE was presumed to have coordinated them, which was reinforced by the spray painted dice symbol located on the steel safe doors of the banks. Approximately five billion yen were stolen and no tracks left by the group.

This made police officials and detectives alike scratch their head in frustration. None of them have figured out any of the ten members present on the raids. As a last resort, they hired the famed Fuhito Kirigiri and his granddaughter to investigate the premises. No other updates at the moment on their progress.

After a bite and a gulp of OJ, he heard some knocking from his front door. He got off his zabuton and was prepared to answer it.

The door hinges suddenly broke off and the door was knocked down. He spotted a silhouette with a red gleam before being tied up in a flash and knocked down to the floor face first.

“WHAT THE F-” the assailant instantly applied duct tape before he could run his mouth off. He tried to roll over and identify who the hell was kidnapping him. He perceived a woman dressed in a suit and a maid’s apron.

“Hoo, that was easier than I thought,” the woman smiled like she hasn’t committed a goddamn crime, “Sorry for doing this by the way, I was warned about your conduct.”

At this point, Hajime was just confused. This woman he’s never seen broke into his apartment tied arms and legs up because of a warning. Why? Why was this even happening? What has he done to deserve this?

“Alright! One left!” One left? Was there more? More confusion formed. He turned his head towards the doorway and spotted another teen, one he kind of recognized. Restrained and gagged the same way he was, the other boy leaned against the railing of his complex and was overlooking the scene.

Hajime sent a face message to ask about the situation. The plump boy simply shook his head in dejection.

“Time to drag both you rotten oranges to class.”  _ ‘Huh? The hell’s a rotten orange?’ _

She grabbed the tail end of his rope and indeed dragged him. He tried to struggle, still aware that it was useless. He recalled a word she said that intrigued him: class.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” she stopped and pulled out an identification card, “I’m Chisa Yukizome, your new teacher.”

_ ‘What?! This loon’s my  _ new _ teacher? What happened to Kizaku-’ _

That made him pause for a moment and think. Did something bad happen to the man? Has he finally crashed his car after DUI every night? If so, was he okay? He remained optimistic. He owed Kizakura-san that much.

But what if he looked at it from another perspective? It was totally in the realm of possibility that he might have caused this drivel in the first place. His new teacher  _ did  _ mention someone warning her about his conduct.

_ ‘Wait a second… This better not be a ridiculous troll that that bastard orchestrated.’ _

Consequences be damned, he would choke the man on sight. As soon as he sees that moustached blond cunt, he  _ will _ enact a crime. Multiple punches in the balls wouldn’t be out of the picture, the man  _ deserved _ it.

No. He needed confirmation, the scout could still be innocent. Plot the revenge after.

[-x-]

After a few minutes, Hajime quite literally adopted the quote ‘Go with the flow.’ Letting his teacher drag him around town. Passersby were gawking at the scene but chose to not interfere. Maybe living around Hope’s Peak general area desensitized them of their antics.

The pebbles along the road hurt a lot, even the smallest bumps were causing him pain. So it was best to keep your head up and remain in a crunch-like posture. Easier said than done when you had to keep it for literal minutes.

He was surprised by how little his kidnapped buddy was struggling. Not to be offensive, but the boy didn’t really look like he was in peak shape. Maybe he should ask him to make a workout regimen.

“Since you both behaved pretty well on our journey so far, I’ll let you both speak.” They arrived at the school gates, Chisa was ‘benevolent’ enough to remove their duct tapes. It  _ hurt _ and made them scream in pain. “But keep in mind that I still have more in the roll.” That meant, no misconducts were allowed.

“I’m surprised though, Hinata-kun. Your behavior doesn’t match what an advisor told me.” she said as she continued to drag them towards the main building.

“If you would  _ humor _ me, Yukizome-sensei, who is this advisor you mentioned?” Now that he could strike up a conversation, he needed the verification of one man’s culpability.

“The school’s scout, Koichi Kizakura. I’m sure you’ve met him since he usually meets up with his scouted students to deliver their letters.”

_ ‘That  _ rat _ bastard…’ _

“Oh, I  _ have. _ You could say I’m pretty  _ acquainted _ with the man.” Chisa couldn’t see it, but Hajime was seething with anger. Already devising his act of reprisal.

“Is that right? How’d you meet him? He’s normally elusive, even at school.” the teacher sounded genuinely curious.

“ _ He _ goes to a bar I work at.” he curtly responded.

“What’s with the tone by the way?” it seemed that she noticed his unsubtle inflections. “Do you not like him?”

“Right now? I  _ hate _ his godd- *ahem*, I... uh, don’t  _ particularly _ like him at the moment.” he stopped himself before he let his demons take control of his emotions. He didn’t wanna prove the bastard right about her warnings.

“Can I ask why?” She knew to take her steps carefully.

“Does sending my teacher to essentially kidnap me answer your question? Even though I'm nothing like he described in his warnings?” he deadpanned.

“Oh…” now realizing what she’s done.

“While I’m at it, mind telling me why you thought it was a good idea to listen to that alcoholic?” he asked.

“I mean... he’s a trusted personnel around the Academy, his judgment is usually pretty sensible,” the teacher counted out with her fingers, “he hasn’t really done anything  _ inherently _ wrong. Kizakura-san hasn’t done anything that warranted me not to trust him.” she chuckled nervously.

“Being a literal drunkard wasn’t enough to convince you?”

“No…?” If she looked behind her, she would only see a stony expression judging her poor choices.

“Well, sensei. He’s very different in the bar. He portrays himself to be a lax, astute guy but in the end, he’s pure-blooded alcoholic true and true.”

“Isn’t that going too far?” she finally glanced at him.

“It might be, I don’t really care right now. He went too far for this stupid prank.”

“Hehehe… sorry about that…” she scratched her cheek.

“Can I please get off this now, or do I have to prove my innocence?” he asked her, “I’m not dangerous, trust me.” adding a broken smile to reduce some of his edge.

_ “Isn’t that what someone dangerous would say?” _ she whispered as if he couldn’t overhear, but eventually complied “Yep, sure.” she pulled out her swords and cut his constraints.

Hajime got up and brushed himself off. Ridding the dust off his shirt and pants, even some on his neck and arms. Then stretching his formerly unused limbs and cracking his joints.

“Much better~.”

“Yeah... I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, Kizakura-san’s to blame here anyways.  _ ‘And, I’m getting my revenge soon… Not letting him get away that easily…  _ “Aren’t gonna let go of him?” jerking his thumb at the other boy.

“Not until we get to class. He tried to escape twice now and he almost did when I was getting the supplies to uh… tie you up.” 

“Alright then…” he left it at that.

They arrived in front of a fountain that split in ways. One going to the newly constructed Reserve Course building and the other going to the Main Course’s old school building. He spotted a girl he sorta recognized sitting on a bench a few meters away.

The girl was playing the GameGirl Advance she held in her hands. Chiaki Nanami was her name if he recalled correctly. Her introduction was one that stood out of everyone since, she didn’t even try. The Ultimate Gamer was too busy beating her high score.

“Oh, that’s our last student,” Chisa pointed at the girl wearing the atrocious brown uniform, his opinion on those things still stood, “Nanami-san!”

The girl looked around and spotted their group. They in turn walked up to her.

“I’m Chisa Yukizome!” she introduced herself, “I’ll be your teacher starting today.”

“Teacher?” Nanami softly asked.

“Yep! I’m your homeroom teacher from this point on til you graduate!” the teacher pumped her arms in the air.

A whiz of air behind him blew back his shirt. He looked at the culprit, being Mitarai. The boy sprinted as fast as he could to someplace. He noticed cut ropes and a sharp-edged rock spread along the cobblestone path. Another whiz went by, Chisa ran after the boy with her swords in hand.

That left him alone with Nanami, a total stranger. The girl went back on her game but he looked out of place just standing there doing nothing. Not wanting it to feel awkward, he initiated a conversation.

“Wacha playing there?” if he wanted someone's attention, better start with something they’re interested in.

“Um… Gala Omega.” That rang a bell in Hajime’s head.

“Ohh, I played that game a few times.” he also recalled the amount of game-over screens he’s received, “we have the Arcade version at the bar I work at.”

“Really?! It’s a classic don’t you think?!” She ignored any sense of personal space.

“I-I mean yeah,” he slowly inched away, “Aside from the pixelated graphics, I’d say the game aged pretty well.”

“I know right? From the first time I’ve played it till today, I routinely try to beat my high scores.” Nanami announced.

“Since you're the Ultimate Gamer, I’m guessing you hold the world record?”

“Yep! Since the maximum point you can get is 999900, most runners use in-game survival time. I’m almost triple the amount than the person in 2nd.”

Hajime whistled, “Damn... I sometimes forget that Ultimates are insane.”  _ ‘Even though I’m one of em…’ _

“Guys! Let’s go back to class!” Chisa came back with a duct-taped-mummy Mitarai in tow. Nanami and Hinata walked ahead of them.

“How high’s your record… um, what’s your name again?” She innocently pressed her finger on her cheek.

“Hajime Hinata, and don’t forget it this time, use your E-Handbook as a reminder. And to answer your question, close to 500 thousand.”

“Woah, that’s pretty impressive.” her eyes shone, complimenting him.

“Not as impressive as yours, I’m sure.” he waved her off.

“Aw, don’t be like that. I think it’s great that you have a good high score.” she said, sweetly smiling at him.

“But compared to yo-”

“No buts. Don’t judge yourself by another person’s achievements. Judge yourself by your own.”

_ “Didn’t know you were so wise.”  _ he whispered.

“I got that from a character from Flame Insignia.”

_ “That explains it.” _

“You mentioned something from earlier…”

“Which was...?”

“You said you have the arcade version of Galaga Omega in your bar.”

“Yep, my Boss bought it. She’s kind of a big retro games fan, I’ve seen her play the machine the whole night on more than one occasion.”

“Can I play it?! Please?” she intruded his space once more.

“Y-Yeah, sure. I’m sure Boss wouldn’t mind,” taking two steps back, “As long as you have the hundred yen coins and don’t order any alcohol.”

“Where is it exactly?”

“In Shibuya and a bit past the Central Street, you’ll see a purple bricked alleyway between a karaoke bar and a Big Bang Burger that leads to Valhalla. It usually opens by 7pm, my shift isn’t until ten.” the bartender explained.

“Got it,” she typed it down in her E-Handbook, “I’ll come by this weekend.”

“See you there.”

Nanami went back to playing her GameGirl, mashing and clicking the buttons faster than anyone he's seen ever. He leaned in to see the Ultimate Gamer fittingly displaying her talent by carefully dodging projectiles with splendid precision and firing at the max capacity her system could process.

The wave of enemies stood no chance. ‘ _ Guess that bastard didn’t scout her for nothing.’ _

At first, he would describe her as a calm yet indifferent person to her environment. Now though, she seemed like she only needed to open up a little for her to have a normal conversation with anyone, especially when the topic was games.

He made another friend that he could consider normal.

[-x-]

“Alright… alright…” Chisa spoke on the teacher’s podium, “You all waited!”

_ ‘Pretty sure you’d threaten them with your swords if they didn’t…’ _

“This is a fine start to your youth.” she viewed the sparkling classroom.  _ ‘Least she seemed proud of them.’ _

“When Ibuki does something, she does it right!” Mioda again somehow stretched her nose like Pinocchio would.

“Cleaning is the only thing I’m good at.”  _ ‘The marshmallow of self-deprecation strikes again.’  _ “I’m glad we now have a classroom that’s suitable for the others’ talents to shine in!”

“Ugh, I’m so tired, I could die!” Saionji tried to complain...

“But you didn’t do anything!” but Soda shut her down.

“Yep! Yep! We’ll keep going at it like this tomorrow, too!” The teacher proudly announced.

“”Tomorrow, too” you say? In this establishment, so long as you have the capabilities, I heard you were free to attend or not attend class if you so choose.” Tanaka’s devas peeked out of his scarf.

“He’s right! Class is a pain!” Owari started the complaints.

“Ibuki wants to perfect her performance!” the musician added.

“It’s true that that’s what the rules say, but…” she closed her eyes, preparing herself, “There’s more to life than just talent. Interacting with others will build character and help you make memories. Let’s make something more than your talent shine: your hope.”

_ ‘Not a bad proposition… but goddammit am I gonna miss my sleep!’  _ pulling his cowlick in exasperation.

“Hope? That sounds wonderful!” Komaeda agreed once his key-word was pronounced.

“What? Let’s build an engine instead”  _ ‘Soda, only  _ you  _ want and could do that. Everyone here is clueless about mechanics.’ _

“No, this is youth!” Sonia rebutted him.

“I know right, Sonia-san?”  _ ‘Dude, you gotta stop being an absolute simp…’ _

“Huh, is there sawdust packed where your brain ought to be?” Saionji provoked the poor guy.

“I THINK IT SOUNDS FUN!” Nekomaru proved once again that he can blow open eardrums with his voice.

“M-Me, too!” Tsumiki meekly said.

“You shut up, you rotten orange!” the traditional dancer insulted the nurse.

“I’ll come get you all tomorrow too!” Yukizome-sensei proclaimed to them.

“HUH?!” Practically everyone shouted.

Another kidnapping incident? Nope, no way in hell. He’d rather have his sleep taken completely. He hasn’t even texted his old man about their destroyed door. He’d definitely gonna freak out about it. Paying for the door is another pain in his ass that he needed to take care of.

Hajime felt low-spirited for trading his precious darling, sleep. But his teacher’s offer didn’t sound too bad. Plus, does he really have a choice in the matter? It was either that or being dragged to class every single day for three years straight.

He needed to sign up for a dorm room now. His classmates' rowdiness would never let him take his naps, even with high quality ear muffs. So he better get as much sleep as he can, maybe even lessen his working hours if need be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, guess this chapter is normal length. My estimates were incorrect. ;-;
> 
> As you guys have read, Hajime wasn’t the only perspective we have. I’ll do this from time to time in the future where I switch up the POV. Don’t worry though, it’ll only be for a limited bit since this story mainly focuses on Hajime, his talent and how he’ll integrate into 77-B.
> 
> Big thanks to my good friend, Mpkvvpkm for mentioning me in his AN on the first fic he created. It doesn't fit my personal taste but if you’re interested in SI-OC’s in Harry Potter, go give his story, King of Kings on ffnet, a try! Dude’s a much better writer than me.
> 
> I’m going back to fix the previous chapters once I wake up, so I’m sorry if the notification pings you multiple times.  
> (¯^ ¯||)
> 
> Next chapter is their first official day as a class plus the added bonus of Hajime’s revenge.


	4. The Days Before Harmony Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long time in the making. It’s been three months since my last update. I’ll put my excuses in the AN at the end. I wrote part of this chapter months ago so if it doesn’t have the same tone, it’s that.
> 
> Wrote this AN in August:  
> I’ve only just started mapping out the timeline for this story (yeah I know I should’ve done that from the start). I didn’t think it would be too hard, but it was. Goddamn, only a few episodes actually had dates in them. But hey, least that gives me more creative freedom.

[-x-]

Hajime slid the door of his homeroom open.

“Huh. Guess I’m first.” Not surprised in the least bit since he skipped out on his morning nap. Or rather didn’t have enough time to have some semblance of an actual nap. His last patron particularly needed a little more time to vent his troubles.

Dragging his legs forward to his table so he can plop down, he slowly but surely made it to his place. Loosening his tie, his head then instantly slammed onto his arms from sheer exhaustion.

He couldn’t doze off because an obscene amount of caffeine was pumping in his bloodstream. That was the only solution he had to his vanishing consciousness. All he could do was stay motionless and hopefully get a bit of energy enough to last the whole day.

_‘Yeah, no, that’s asking too much…’_

His prediction proved to be accurate by the door sliding open. Peaking his eyes out, it revealed a girl wearing the Hope’s Peak uniform he still refused to put on. A hair color he recognized, pretty much one of the few redheads he’s met: Mahiru Koizumi.

“Oh, I was sure I was gonna be first…” noticing his presence, “I’m surprised to see someone even earlier.”

Her steps came closer and closer til it arrived beside him. “Oh I remember you…”

“...Yo...” he uttered.

“Seems dead on arrival huh?”

“Yep… haven’t slept a wink.” stretching and letting a yawn out.

“You didn’t take your nap?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Wow, you remember that?” he sat up and met her in the eye.

“Why wouldn’t I?” crossing her arms and sounding offended.

“Cuz it's information about a guy you’ve talked to once in total. And that was almost three months ago.” he curtly justified his point.

“...Fair enough,” she conceded, “You still haven’t answered my question though.”

“A client was weeping about his lost job. Couldn’t bring myself to force him home so I offered to stay and keep the bar open. We stayed there for another three hours until he was stable enough, that was about an hour ago.”

“Aw, look at you being a good persoOo-.” her words were interrupted by her own yawn.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who didn’t get enough sleep.” he slyly clapped back.

“Shut. My dad wouldn’t stop yelling at the TV last night.” she reasoned.

“The heck was he watching dead of the night?”

“Some random blockbuster action movie. Typical things men with big egos would like.” she rested a hand on her hip.

“Damn, I’m glad I never owned a TV then.” feeling a tiny bit relieved.

“Wait what? You never owned one?”

“Yep, family couldn’t afford one.”

“That must’ve sucked then… you couldn’t watch any anime or show.” smiling and showing her sympathy.

“It did leave me feeling a bit left out but, eh. Didn’t really care all that much.” he shrugged.

“Poor you… I feel bad for your ruined childhood…” she leaned her rear on the table adjacent.

“Hey! You don’t have to say it like that! Like I said, I didn’t care much.”

“Hehe, don’t worry, I was kidding.” she laughed.

“Wow, _real_ rude there Koizumi…” he complained.

“I didn’t wanna seem too much of a robot, Hinata.” she smirked.

“Congrats. You accomplished your goal,” scratching his head, “Anyways, did some stuff happen around here while I was busy hibernating?”

“Nothing that I could think of. There were only five that actually attended class. The rest did their own thing. Well, sometimes Soda likes to pay a visit so he can worship Sonia.”

“Oh yeah that guy… almost forgot about him.”

“Speaking of which,” the door opened again as she snapped her fingers, “knew it was her. She’s always ridiculously early.”

“Good morning, Koizumi-san.” Sonia greeted as she passed the doorway.

“Good morning, Sonia-san.” Koizumi waved back.

“Oh, that seems like an unfamiliar yet familiar face,” she walked up towards them, “I believe I have yet to personally introduce myself to you. My name is Sonia Nevermind. And if you would, please address me as Sonia.”

_‘Yeesh, talk about regal manners.’_

“Nice to meet you Sonia-san, my name’s Hajime Hinata.” he smiled the best he could in his state.

“Nice to meet you as well,” she met his own. The princess looked at both of them and got an idea in her head, “I shall take a hike to my place and leave you two on your exchange.”

“Wrong phrasing again… it’s “I’ll head over to my place.”” Koizumi corrected her.

“I give my thanks, Koizumi-san.” acknowledging her mistake and departing.

“None of the others really attended?” Hajime refocused on their topic.

“Pretty sure they just don’t like attending class cuz it seems like a pain.”

“Not that I can blame them...” he rubbed his neck, “You made some new friends?”

“If you can call Hiyoko-chan that… she basically declared me as her _onee-san._ Barely leaving my side whenever we're in class and hanging out.” she felt some embarrassment over that word.

“Too clingy for your taste?”

“It’s not that I mind, she gives me a pass to her insults. Which means I can scold her about it and she’ll listen to me. I hope.”

“Keep her in check for us alright?” he requested.

“Yeah, yeah… I know.” Waving him off. She glanced below to his attire, “I’ve been wondering… how come you aren’t wearing your school uniform?”

“I’d rather wear something comfortable and not make my eyes bleed every time I look in the mirror.” 

“But pretty much everyone else is wearing it.”

“Yes, how can you people stand wearing _that?_ ” he furrowed his brow.

“It isn’t that bad...” her fingers fiddled with her blazer.

“Yes. Yes, it is. Of all the colors they chose, it's the color of shit and mud melled together.”

The door rumbled open and Hajime spotted Kuzuryu, with Pekoyama following close behind. They made their way directly to their spots without greeting anyone, only doing subtle but scrutinizing glances.

The yakuza and bartender met eyes for a split second before breaking off. Their footsteps stopped once they reached their places.

Hajime brushed off the unwanted tension and went back to his talk, “So… wanna bet how long it’ll take for our classmates to destroy the classroom?”

“Jeez, real mature there, Hinata.” folding her hands on her hip and calling him out.

“Hey, it’s inevitable anyways.” he shrugged.

“That doesn’t mean it’s-”

“Mahiru-nee!” a high-pitched voice interrupted her. They both caught sight of a yellow blur before it slammed into the redhead’s midsection.

“AH!” Both figures crashed on the floor, tumbling down and knocking tables/chairs in the process until they hit the wall. Hajime’s face scrunched up at the mess.

“Well, five seconds, that’s sooner than I expected,” the bartender examined his watch, then getting up to help the girls, “Here, take my hand.”

Koizumi readily took the offer. It made it a bit harder to hoist them up since the dancer wouldn’t stop clinging to her ‘big sis.’ Once on their feet, she brushed the dust off and straightened the extra wrinkles on her uniform.

“Why’d you suddenly run up to me screaming, Hiyoko-chan?” the photographer lifted Saionji’s chin.

“Cuz there's a pedo chasing meeee!” she tightened her grip. Hinata and Koizumi looked skeptical. The ‘perpetrator’ entered their class. “There he is!” pointing at the door frame.

“I... told you, hah... I wasn’t chasing you!” it seemed that their ‘culprit’ was out of breath. Holding onto his knees, Kazuichi Soda gasped for air.

“That’s a lie and you know it!” she accused him again.

“I’m not!” he made a defensive expression, balling a fist to add some form of threat(failing miserably mind you). “I-I was just running cuz I thought I was late! Y-Yeah late. My a-alarm clock broke last night too!”

The bartender was unblinking, slicing through the mechanic’s obvious lie in his mind.

_‘Damn you are_ **_bad_ ** _at lying… with those stutters, you can even rival that nurse. Can’t you just check your E-Handbook for the time? Also, the Ultimate Mechanic having a broken alarm clock? Dude… you can do better than this.’_

“Can you just tell us the truth, Soda?” Koizumi apparently caught on as well, laying her hands on her hips and leaning forward.

“B-But I aM!” his voice cracked.

Hajime approached the boy and set a hand on his shoulder, a pitying look formed, “A man should know when to give up a losing battle and surrender with their honors intact.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side! Bros are supposed to defend each other!” the pink-haired boy stated.

“Since when were we ‘bros?’” he curiously asked.

“Once you bond with a bro, you stay bros forever! It’s part of the bro code!”

“Do you even remember my name?”

“U-Uh… ehehe... Haiji...?” chuckling nervously

“Knew it…” Hajime shook his head in disappointment and backed off.

“*ahem* If you boys are done arguing about something _so_ pointless,” Koizumi butted back in, “ **Soda** , what’s the real reason you were running?”

Seemed like there was no dodging it now, “I was um… _following Sonia-san._ Then, I lost her in the hallways. I saw Saionji walking and I decided to ask her. She spotted me and sprinted while yelling insults at me.”

“Why’d you run away, Hiyoko-chan?” the redhead turned and asked.

“He looked shady as hell when I noticed him and being alone at the time, I didn’t wanna be in danger and so I did what I did.” the traditional dancer grasped harder.

“Ah, I see.” analyzing both their accounts, everyone around(including Sonia) waited for her ruling, “both are at fault here. Soda, stop stalking Sonia-san and being an outright creep. Hiyoko-chan, stop accusing people with repulsive insults. You’re going too far with some of them.”

“That was magnificent, Koizumi-san!” Sonia cheerfully applauded her verdict all the way from her spot.

“Not bad, mother hen.” Hinata joined in, if just to psyche her up.

“You’re amazing, nee-san!” Saionji said as if she wasn’t recently scolded.

“Yeah. That was pretty good,” Nanami came out of nowhere from behind him and commented, “It was like a Raid Leader punishing their reckless members.”

“Where the hell did you come from?!” Soda rightfully demanded.

“The entrance?” she responded with an absent-minded look like it was obvious.

“I-... nevermind…” The mechanic gave up.

“Hehe… i-it wasn’t much you guys…” Koizumi’s face mimicked the color of her hair.

_‘Tsun tsun alert…’_

They all decided to sit down and have some casual conversation before their first official class started. Everyone reintroduced themselves for clarification to some, well Nanami and Soda mostly.

The bartender asked about their days before Yukizome’s collection after recounting his own.

Nanami answered with her going around the school grounds and playing on her GameGirl. Sometimes going to the local arcade if she felt like destroying their highscores. Most of her time was spent in her dorm room streaming her gameplays to her large following.

Her nickname ‘Chibi Demon’ came from her stomping all of her enemies. He actually remembered her name being mentioned once by an old classmate. She supposedly clutched a 1v6 scenario with a whole squad of top level pros. Mind boggling but feasible by an Ultimate.

Saionji(reluctantly) told her story after Koizumi’s reassurance. She kept close to Koizumi because she was allegedly the only trustworthy person in the previous class roster. Trustworthy wouldn’t be the adjective Hajime preferred using in this scenario, he’d use competent instead. Sonia wasn’t the most proficient due to her naivete, Kuzuryu was altogether intimidating and Tsumiki’s too clumsy.

If she wasn’t glued to the photographer, she had dates with her father. Going around town and trying out the new cafes, just generally having fun times. Their last date involved viewing a production of a sweatshop factory. Her sadism _really_ showed when she described it in very grim detail. ‘Ants’ as she dubbed the workers.

Koizumi’s was the most basic, attending class and being very punctual. Not missing a single day and always present on time. Cultivating her photographic skills in her ‘Talent Development’ period proposed by the Academy for each Ultimate. The most out of line she’s done was eating lunch with her friend Sato Amami in the Reserve Course. 

Soda, as previously mentioned, only came to class to see his beloved princess. Those occasions weren’t far apart, making Nevermind seriously detest his visits. Of course the mechanic wasn’t aware of this or simply chose to turn a blind eye of desperation.

Outside of shadowing her, he frequented his giant machine near the school’s track field. Checking and tuning it up to his best efforts. Until a certain luckster came about and undermined it.

“Man, that dude always messes up my shit.” he complained.

“No swearing.” Koizumi held up a finger towards the boy.

“Sheesh, what are you? My mom?” scratching his head, but caved in when he noticed her glare.

“Good. Now-” She got interrupted by the window being bashed by a huge metallic box. Luckily, it struck the very back window… where Soda decided to place himself.

Hitting him square in the face, the boy was immediately knocked out. The box travelled further, hitting the back wall as it ricocheted into the wooden back door of the class and the top landing perpendicular to the roof.

Now looking closely, Hajime recognized the vessel. It was a steel barrel that looked like a rectangular prism rather than it’s revealed form, a cylinder. It likely contained some form of alcohol. Beer, from what Hajime perceived.

The hatch opened to reveal a particular student and a particular talent.

“Hello there!” he jovially greeted as if he didn’t just destroy the back half of the class. “It seems like my entrance wasn’t the most graceful.”

The boy looked at his victim sprawled down on the floor, “Or the most harmless…”

“Komaeda was it? ...How’d you even end up in _that?_ ” Hajime shakingly pointed at the barrel, disbelief and confusion written all over his face.

Nagito Komaeda exited from the beer keg, dripping wet from the fermented malt. His uniform was utterly soaked, his usual marshmallow mess was slumped and glued to his neck and his loafers were cascading liquid for a split second.

He slicked back the hair covering his face and responded, “I was walking back to school after my early morning breakfast at a cafe I frequent, when I got hit by a bouncing barrel and somehow ended up inside it. Rolling for a while, I felt it hit someone and I’m guessing threw me into the window.”

“That sounds terrifying.” Koizumi described it best.

“I just feel lucky for arriving on time!” he laughed it off.

“You could’ve drowned in there!” The bartender exclaimed his concern.

“Hahaha, an Ultimate is worrying about scum like me… what a blessing~.” the white-haired boy started hugging himself in hysteria.

“Dude! I’m being serious here!” Hinata tried getting Komaeda to take the situation with more weight, “You shouldn’t go brushing this off.”

“Hinata’s right.” the photographer gave him a stern glare. “That was a potential death waiting to happen.”

“You shouldn’t trouble yourselves about my well-being. I’m just another face in the crown unlike the rest of you hope-brimming beacons.” he fought back while pushing himself down.

“What the hell are you saying?” the bartender was honestly baffled.

The innocent smile on Komaeda’s face said it all. He sincerely believed all the nonsense he was spouting out of his mouth.

“Hinata-san, I’m saying that I am not worthy of being here. I won because of a lottery, not my crafted talent. I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student, I’m attending this class right now because of luck. I almost unsurprisingly denied the invitation, however, Headmaster Kirigiri was adamant that they wanted my _talent_ researched.” It irked the boy to put the word talent in the same sentence as his presence.

...

“Yeah no. I’m not having that right now.” Hinata was at the end of his already short line that morning. “Go to the entrance and ask the lady for a change, shower, no buts or bullshit about ‘Don't worry about me,’ just go.”

“As you wish, Hinata-san!” and finally, the dripping wet student with too much eagerness welcomed the orders and left the classroom.

“Man, that dude is weird...” Hinata turned around, “How’s Soda doing?”

Nanami was checking his pulses on his wrists, “He’s alive… I think. I saw this one character in a game do this and he checked for a beating.”

“Back off, gamer cunt. This is how you do it _properly._ ” that ominous tone was something the bartender recognized, but it was too late to do anything about it.

The traditional dancer walked up to Soda’s side and lifted her foot in the air. She slammed it down the mechanic’s stomach which prompted him to gain consciousness and yell at the top of his lungs.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Hajime covered his ears that were being violated by a very, **very** , high-pitched screech. The noise that followed was a coughing fit that at least didn’t make him want to rip out both his ears.

“Hiyoko-chan!” Koizumi immediately got to chastising the blonde. “You shouldn’t have done that!”

“Hey, at least I got the job done.” And she had the courage to look smug.

“But that shouldn’t be the method someone should use. Be more considerate next time.” the redhead bonked her head hard enough to make an audible noise.

“Ouch!” the blonde caressed the afflicted spot. “Fine… next time, I’ll be extra careful.”

_“I sure hope you will on your end.”_ Hinata muttered.

“Let’s wait til Tsumiki-chan arrives.” and at that cue, the mentioned person entered the classroom.

_‘Can she predict the future or something?’_

“Tsumiki-chan! Good timing!” she called out the nurse. “Can you check up on Soda real quick? He got hit pretty hard by that barrel right next to you.”

That was all it took to get the girl’s attention. “I’ll go get some supplies from the Nurse’s Office! I should be back in two minutes, meanwhile, don’t move his head too much!!” The purple-haired girl sprinted out in speeds he hasn’t anyone do. He prayed that she doesn’t enact her signature clumsiness.

Hajime walked towards his ‘bro’ and kneeled down. Checking up on his expression, it was easy to discern that he wasn’t feeling well. His face scrunched up, his teeth all bare. Both hands clutching his abdomen like it was about to burst open. Clearly Saionji didn’t make him feel any better.

He couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy.

“Hey man, can you talk?” poking the boy's shoulder and trying to strike up a conversation.

“...Yeah… But I don’t think that’s a good idea right now… hehe...” Soda put on a fidgety smile to ease the bartender. “Don’t worry too much, I’ve been through way worse, and that includes being run over cuz of that prick’s luck.”

“Heh, you’re right. I’ll leave you be then.” At least he was being a good sport about it. Or maybe he was just in too much pain to complain. Whichever one, Hajime can respect.

[-x-]

“Great job being present, everyone!” Yukizome-sensei announced on her podium and the class cheered. “Now. I’m gonna explain how this’ll all work to some of you that never attended before.”

_‘Pretty much most of us then...’_ Hajime’s lack of sleep was quickly overtaking him. Barely even making out his teacher’s words and struggling to keep his eyes open, it made it very difficult to pay attention.

Instead, while their teacher was yammering about the introduction process, the olive-eyed boy head was about his classmate’s predicament. The mechanic displayed his pain in a pretty noticeable way. In this case, groaning whenever he was moved and grunting when Nidai carried him to the Nurse’s Office after his initial checkup in the classroom.

Tsumiki was given a pass from homeroom class since she was the one who tended to Soda. Hinata expected her to come back when she gets Soda stable enough to leave alone.

The bartender half-expected this to happen after yesterday’s torment. He would go far as to call yesterday a calamity. An unbridled class with vibrant classmates was totally what he wished for. Yeah...

_God_ was he going to miss the peaceful times at Kodaka High. Even if he wasn’t the star of the show before the leak, he enjoyed his harmony when he had it. Guess people were right about how you shouldn’t take things for granted.

Hey, at least his days would never be dull. Though, he much preferred it to the chaos he’s undergoing or going to suffer from. He knew this was only the start of something much more turbulent.

Yukizome-sensei got his attention back when she brought out a pink notebook from her pockets, opened it, then slammed it on her podium. “Okay… since this is our first day, it’ll be a bit special. We’re gonna have our gym period in the morning instead of the afternoon because your upperclassmen reserved the gym itself and the track field.”

“Everyday, you rotten oranges have brief hour-long periods in the morning and afternoon where you’ll be alone to hone your talents. You’re not obligated to do them, but it’s recommended for you to not become rusty for your exam in the fall.”

“You can go in your Research Labs, free roam, enter the gymnasium if it's available. It’s your choice, just don’t forget to get back in class for the wrap up. After that, you’re free for the rest of the day!”

She surveyed if the class was listening. Unsurprisingly, quite a few didn’t. The teacher did her best to lecture them.

“Nanami-san... stop playing your console for now please? I promise you’ll have time later when your other classes start.” the gamer nodded and pocketed her GameGirl.

“Mitarai-kun, same goes for you. I know how much you love animating but this is also important info to know.” the boy respectfully closed his enormous drawing tablet and laid down his pen, knowing well of the consequences at this point.

“Saionji-san, Owari-san, will you please fix your postures? We don’t want back pain so early in life now, do we?” Owari was reluctant but otherwise complied. Saionji on the other hand…

“But I’m too tired-” That response was met with a blade slicing the air near her face and piercing through the wooden wall next to her. She looked aghast as the girl quickly obeyed and apologized.

_‘She can really strongarm *yawn* our class this easily huh?’_ the bartender wondered with her display of control.

“And Hinata-kun, do you wanna excuse yourself to the restroom to wash your face with cold water? You look like you’re barely hanging on there.” It was his turn for the class to inspect him and they saw Yukizome’s exact description.

_“Shit.”_ he murmured, “No no no, I’m good.” waving her offer off. While he appreciated the gesture, he didn’t exactly have the strength to spare in order to accomplish it.

“Do you want me to STRETCH your LIMBS so it’d increase BLOOD FLOW?!” Nidai ‘kindly’ proposed, not realizing it sounded like a death sentence with those bulging muscles.

“Not really, I’d rather keep my limbs intact.”

“H-Hinata-san, w-would you like a check up a-about your sleeping habits?” Tsumiki inquired, “You seem to have the behavior and habits of an insomniac.”

“I’ll take a rain check on that.” he answered to the glee of the nurse. “...Wait, when did you get here?”

“U-Uh, just m-moments ago. After I got Soda-san to sleep and scanned his status. I saw you staring off on the ceiling so I offered you my h-help.” the nurse squeaked out as if she offended the boy. “S-Sorry for imposing!”

“Grow a pair you filthy pig!” the traditional dancer shrilled.

“Hiyoko-chan, I already warned you multiple times.” the redhead was quickly becoming the mother hen for the blonde. Maybe the whole class soon enough. “Do that again and you’ll receive repeated punishment.”

“It’s fine Tsumiki.” he smiled at the purple-haired girl. “I’m actually glad you asked.”

“Thank you, Hinata-san!” she expressed radiant happiness to his reply, even to the point of weeping, Sonia out of nowhere offered some napkins to her unspoken behest. “Everyone's being so kind with me!!!”

“So!” Yukizome cleared her throat to regain their attention, the class immediately calmed down, “Since Hope’s Peak doesn’t enforce fundamental subjects, we’ll be having liberal classes about random topics I put on the schedule, only gym class is a guarantee. Not saying, we’re never gonna study basic fundamentals, just don’t expect them too much.”

She added, “I won’t be your only teacher though, I already asked a friend of mine if they wanted an alternating shift. She agreed to split some of the work since she knows your original teacher won’t show up.”

_‘That damn rat…’_ Hinata still wasn’t over yesterday’s ordeal.

“Anyways, let’s start your first ever official homeroom!”

[-x-]

A few minutes after attendance was registered and another welcoming speech from their teacher, she requested them to change to the sportswear provided by the school.

They went downstairs to the locker rooms. Passing by multiple corridors, the class recognized a white head heading in their direction. The normally puffed-up marshmallow was slicked back in a form that those men in magazines often have.

“Oh... greetings everyone.” His voice had a tone that described a certain distance he must keep between the others but friendly enough that mostly everyone wouldn’t perceive.

_‘He’s more sneaky than I gave him credit for.’_ Hajime eyed the luckster, but didn’t take action.

“Komaeda-kun, great timing!” Yukizome-sensei apparently not noticing or simply ignored it, went up to the white-haired boy and leaned in to eyeball him. “Wonderful styling! Who taught you that?”

“My personal stylist actually did.” he chuckled.

“You’re rich enough to your own hairdresser? Wow, never would’ve known.” their teacher was wide-eyed.

“Not many would.” he donned a smile that seemed strained to the trained eye. “Anyways, where are you guys headed?”

“We were gonna come get you then head towards the locker rooms in the second floor.” She answered. “That knocks out the first step so go ahead and join your class.”

Komaeda silently slipped to the very back. Putting on his casual smile to calmly pacify, one by one, the early birds from earlier about his behavior. His eyes lingering more on the bartender than the others.

“Everyone, follow me!”

When they reached the lobby and the two gender-seperated locker rooms. Yukizome’s instructions came as she clapped to grab everyone’s attention.

“Now, the staff provided you with your gym outfits inside the green lockers in the changing rooms. There’s a name plate and a lock on each one so you’ll know which one you occupy. Use your E-Handbook to unlock it. Also, if you’re too shy to undress in front of your classmates, feel free to use the washrooms right next to the entrance.”

She added, “To the leading person, use your E-Handbook to unlock the door for your classmates. Only the correct gender would work on each one so you won’t have to worry about perverts. I’ll give you guys five minutes to finish dressing up, we’re reuniting back at the entrance.”

And with that, being the guy closest to the door, he pulled out his E-Handbook and hovered it over the scanner and unlocked the boy’s door. He glanced over to the left to notice that Sonia’s done the same.

Pushing the door open, all the boys entered the room right after him.

“Hinataaa!” the addressed person turned his head to meet the bundled-up pink-haired mechanic waving his hand in front of his face. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for a long time time now. You okay?”

Hajime shook his head to double-check if he was seeing things right, it proved that yes, he was seeing Kazuichi Soda standing straight after his mishaps. This was getting ridiculous. “Dude! When did you get here?! Shouldn’t you be recovering at the Nurse’s Office?”

“Nah, it got boring after an hour of staying still.” he responded like it was a typical thing to say. “I asked the receptionist downstairs where the class was going, so I headed here.”

_‘What is this guy on?! How does someone bounce back this quickly?’_ This wasn’t doing the boy’s lack of sleep any favors. His co-workers or Kizakura have never gotten this nonsensical. He was right about his prediction three months ago, this was on a whole nother realm of craziness.

He looked around to see that no one’s paying Soda’s presence any mind, in fact it seemed normal to them. They even gazed at Hajime like he was the crazy one.

“What the hell do you mean ‘it got boring’?” he lowered his voice a decibel lower so he wouldn’t attract the others’ attention. “A two-hundred kilogram, beer-filled barrel plowed your head and this is what you describe it as…?”

“I mean, it hurt, but I feel fine right now!” The cap-wearing boy managed to put out a shark-toothed grin with a thumbs up. “I swear!”

_‘That might just be the drugs talking if I’m guessing this right. Okay okay, I should calm down and assess this.’_

“Alright, fine.” He needed acceptance of the absurdity before he could properly determine what he should do next. _That_ much he learned from his experiences at the bar. “I’ll let you be for now, but if you experience a migraine, hallucinations or any of the sort, you tell someone closest to you.”

“Aight, aight, you worry too much man,” he hung his head and sighed, “I’m telling you this now, This body’s been through some shit. I’m a mechanic, man! I’m supposed to be used to pain!”

“I… don’t think that’s in the criteria.”

“Oh don’t be a stick in the mud.” he pulled his cap down. “Just don’t mind me. Look, I won't participate in the activities today if that makes you feel any better.”

_‘If it was up to me, you shouldn’t even be out of your bed.’_ Hajime wanted to voice that out but he knew it was counterproductive.

“Fine. Deal.” he said reluctantly.

“Ayyy, that’s music to my ears,” the mechanic slung his arm around him and scruffed his spiky hair, “So, you should get changed now before you run out of time.”

The brown-haired boy noticed that the other boys were already done putting on their shirts and were on their pants. He rushed towards the nameplate that had his name engraved on and scanned his tablet on the gray lock. The metallic cabinet opened and his gym uniform was there.

He walked towards one of the weight benches and took off his red and white sneakers. He removed his pants and threw on the blue shorts that the school provided.

It didn’t look like much but he felt unrestricted unlike his jeans. He guessed that it was probably engineered by an alumni. The white shirt on the other hand, it felt he wasn’t wearing it at all. Very light and airy.

“That didn't take you that long.” he turned his head towards Soda who was pocketing his E-Handbook. 

He scouted the place around and everyone else already exited. His friend gestured his thumb towards the door and Hajime nodded.

“Like I was asking you earlier before you blew up on me.” Pushing the door open. “You alright man?”

“Yeah, just sleepy. The ruckus earlier woke me up for a bit but now I’m back to Drowsy Town.”

He let out a yawn for emphasis.

“I can see that, man your bags are huge!” the mechanic produced the biggest grin Hajime’s ever seen.

“Yeah, I know, you don’t have to point it out y'know?” the bartender deadpanned.

_‘I blame you and the entire class for this.’_

[-x-]

The class entered the gym together. Surprisingly not causing any chaos. Yet.

Something that took him by surprise was Hope’s Peak choice for female gym attire. They chose bloomers, goddamn bloomers, something that was highly criticized by parents and adults alike for being too sexual for minors to wear. Most modern japanese schools have already gotten rid of this relic.

_‘This school… first their literal shit-looking uniforms, now bloomers? Why am I barely surprised anymore?’_ the boy couldn’t think of anything to justify this decision. That wasn’t to say he didn’t want to see some curves, he just wasn’t a degenerate.

It was going to be hard to ignore it. But damn it, was he gonna try his hardest to repress his teenage hormones.

“Line up everyone! Boys and girls separated and facing each other within a five meter distance please!” Yukizome, gladly still in her suit and apron, called out. She then went to a storage room of sorts to fetch whatever material they needed for the sport of today.

They all obliged. Every boy was face to face with a girl, some were excited for their first activity, some, less so. That included Hajime and the person in front of him, the Ultimate Photographer.

Though, Saionji wasn’t facing anyone since one of the boys took a back seat. It took a bit of convincing from Hajime and stubbornness from Soda so Tsumiki would let him off till the end of class and not order Nidai to haul the mechanic’s ass back to the infirmary.

Said mechanic had his eyes glued on a certain blonde. He wasn’t exactly being sneaky about it too. If the hearts on his pupils weren’t clear enough.

“Okay everyone!” Yukizome-sensei caught their attention again. She was pushing a steel cage that contained multi-colored rubber balls. “Since this is your first gym class, we're gonna start off with something basic.”

She stopped in the middle of the line and shouted on top of her lungs, “Dodgeball!”

Nidai, Owari, Mioda and Sonia cheered with boisterous enthusiasm. Saionji, Hanamura and Mitarai groaned in horror. The rest, including Hajime, remained silent with differing reasons. Hinata knew he was absolutely going to get smeared, so he simply accepted his fate.

He knew he wasn’t the most athletic and it didn’t help that he treated his body like shit. Not to mention his wavering consciousness from his sleep deprivation. He was bound to get knocked out by one of the balls. That wouldn’t be pretty... but he didn’t exactly have any other options. His teacher won’t accept any excuses.

_“I’m so_ fucked _”_ he whispered to himself. The boy kinda wished that he should’ve been the one hit by the barrel instead of the benched mechanic.

“Now! To make the teams! I nominate Nidai-kun and Owari-san to be the team leaders. Come up both of you in the middle.” The two muscle bounds went in the middle.

Hajime supposed that separating the two most athletic people in the class was a good idea in theory. But they weren’t the only competent ones available.

“You guys can call anyone you want on your team in sequence. Owari-san, you go first.”

“Pepeko samurai-chan, c'mere!”

_‘Case in point.’_

The gray-haired girl laid down his bokken by the bleachers and came forward.

"My surname is Pekoyama," the swordswoman affirmed, "I would advise you to remember it."

"Alrighty, Yama-chan." the tanned athlete grinned at the expense of the red-eyed girl. Not even giving the intimidating glare that Pekoyama was displaying that would wilt any professional boxer’s courage upon sight a second thought.

"TANAKA, YOU'RE ON MY TEAM!"

_'Man… way to remind me of your ear-destroying vocal chords…'_

“Ho? You’ve chosen well, cognizant raiju.” he covered his face with his right hand and made a fist with his other. “I shall demonstrate you all the capabilities of the Supreme Overlord of Ice. None has ever surpassed my grandeur. Hahaha!” His devas popped out of his purple scarf that he didn’t take off, each having their own stance.

_‘A bit impractical to wear something that keeps you warm, but who am I to judge?’_ remembering that he still wore his running shoes in the rain.

“Hmmm,” the gymnast rubbed her chin against her finger, “the multicolored chick, you’re on mine.”

“Alright!” the musician pumped both her arms in the air. “We’ll destroy the other team, go team OWARI!!”

The rest of the nominations passed by quickly without much hassle. He was put in Owari’s team that consisted of Owari herself, Pekoyama, Mioda, Kuzuryuu, Koizumi, Komaeda and Saionji. The other team had Nidai, Tanaka, Sonia, Mitarai, Nanami, Tsumiki and Hanamura.

The other team definitely had the edge. Nidai and Tanaka were major players but he knew that people wouldn’t eye Mitarai because of his… well, physique. But from what he saw yesterday, his classmate’s couldn’t be more wrong. Hajime presumed that the Ultimate Team Manager saw that potential as he chose her after all the semi-built people ran out.

The general rule of dodgeball was that: if you have more better players, you win. That was how he saw it in high school and primary. One good player can make a difference. 

And oh how right he was.

Chisa laid four balls in the middle of the arena indicated by the black lines. She then sat down on a referee’s chair and pulled out a megaphone from... somewhere.

The game went how he predicted, most of the ‘bad’ players were eliminated in the first four minutes. 

Tsumiki somehow slipped into Mioda’s ball’s direction, hitting her in the head and made constant apologies on how she didn’t get to be useful. She crawled her way out of the field and sat down on the floor hugging her knees.

**“Tsumiki-san is out!”**

Hanamura kept hiding in the back of the pack to prevent his own demise, but then a misaimed soaring ball from Owari nailed the boy’s stomach and sent him skidding to the edge of the arena. He also yelled an american actress’s name for some reason.

**“Hanamura-kun is eliminated!”**

Kuzuryu and Saionji were squared in one precise shot made by _Nanami_ of all people. She didn’t even celebrate her achievement, just a simple nod and she moved on. He needed to remind himself that she played all games and that included physical games like DDR and Laser Quest.

**“Kuzuryu-kun and Saionji-san are out!”**

Sonia scored herself a point when she Koizumi on the sides while the redhead was procuring her first ball. He heard Soda’s cheering in the background.

**“Koizumi-san is eliminated!”**

So far, no one caught a ball yet so no revives were gained by either side. The two leaders were hyper focused on each other that they left the rest of their teams unattended and disorganized.

A ball rushed past the bartender’s leg, he saw Pekoyama’s arm stretched out towards him. He grabbed the ball once it bounced off the back wall and waited.

‘Patience is key’ as they say.

He saw a green blur in his peripheral vision and blocked a shot coming from Ryota, launching his counterattack on the plump boy in the process. The animator barely avoided the ball by bending his knees and leaning his back.

The boy barely had time to question the physics of that move and jumped when he saw Tanaka throw a blue sphere with the help of his hamsters. Unfortunately, It nicked his shoes. So he was out.

**“Hinata-kun, out!”**

Walking towards the eliminated players on his team, the boy fell in line behind Koizumi.

“Who do you think is gonna win this one?” the redhead suddenly asked.

“Nidai’s team for sure. They just have the better players. Plus, half of our team are already out.” he rubbed his neck.

“Are you sure though? You don’t think anyone’s gonna catch a ball?”

“Yeah, when Owari wins against Nidai,” observing the dwindling space that the team manager had, the gymnast was in her familiar territory if those fluid dodges were anything to go by, “Our team might have a chance. That is _if_ she manages to take him out in time.”

**“Pekoyama-san is eliminated!”**

“But right now, that’s not looking very likely.” pointing at Sonia and Tanaka who double teamed the swordswoman.

“The catching part though... not likely, these people are too focused on throwing the ball instead of catching them.”

**“Mioda-san, you’re out!”**

The musician stuck her tongue out to her eliminator, Ryota. The plump boy grinned in return. Only Komaeda and Owari left.

“This is pretty much game over.” Hinata pointed out once more.

Komaeda picked up a ball rolling towards his direction and examined the playground. He then threw it randomly or what appeared to be random but it curved to hit Nidai’s leg. Which was the perfect time since he weaved his limb and gave the ball more momentum.

And then it bounced off to hit Nanami and Ryota. Tanaka and his devas dove to catch the ball in order to save his teammates, but slipped from his unwrapped scarf the moment his palm made contact.

“...How…?” the brown-haired boy was dumbfounded.

“Still doubting our team, Hinata?” the photographer had the nerve to sound cheeky.

**“Nidai-kun, Nanami-san, Mitarai-kun and Tanaka-kun are all out! Only Sonia-san left!”**

The white-haired boy, unvexed by his work, picked up another ball that rolled to his side and nonchalantly passed it to his teammate. The tanned girl then hurled the ball and hit Sonia square on her arm.

**“What a major upset! Team Owari wins!”** Yukizome-sensei announced.

“Turns out, one lucky player can also make a difference.” Koizumi elbowed his sides. He knew if he turned his head to meet hers, he would see a shit-eating grin.

[-x-]

The next few games they had weren’t as eventful as the first. All of them consisted of a tug of war of wins between the two teams. It ended with a tie of 2-2.

_‘That was one hell of a workout.’_

Even if Hinata didn’t last till the end of any of the matches, he still had to seriously play unless he wanted to get eliminated. Having a lot of close calls from Nanami and Mitarai’s throws and taking out a few opponents while he was at it.

Koizumi continued to annoy him about his bold prediction for the duration of the period to his own despair. As much of a stick in the mud she was, from what Hajime’s seen so far, she had a childish side.

_‘On the bright side, at least she_ isn’t _a complete square.’_

Now they were back in class and having a few minute break. Well, most of them. The sport oriented students and Mioda were aching for more action. He was quite surprised when she declared that they play one more game, not noticing the condition of the class.

The bartender questioned how someone as thin as her would have a stamina comparable to Owari. Maybe she did some cardio back in her idol days, but he could never see an idol doing more than watching their caloric intake and some core exercises.

_‘Now that I think about it, she prolly just likes running, makes a lot of sense based on her personality.’_

Hinata was quite surprised that he kept his consciousness throughout that endeavor, he didn’t exactly have the capacity to play for that long. He was very much expecting major backlash later in the day and muscle aching that’ll last a whole week. God, he hoped he’d be able to at least walk to class.

Now, he was face down dead on his desk and back on his white button up and jeans. He was thanking whoever made the whole school have AC or else he would be toasting right next to the window.

Turning his head a bit to the right, he can spot a bundle of pink hair plopped down on the desk. At first, he guessed that Nanami justifiably took a nap after gym class, but then he heard 8-bit sounds and button clicks.

“Nanami, how do you still have energy to play games?” He semi-grumbled, semi-said.

“I always have a power bank in case the battery ran dry.” She answered, not even bothering to face the bartender.

“Not that… I meant, having your own energy to move your fingers around.” Clarifying himself to the gamer.

“Oh.” He heard a compressed ding and then her body began to rise up. She lackadaisically looked at the boy. “I don’t know… I’ve always had energy to play, even if my body didn’t have much stamina. It’s just something that happens, if I had to guess, my mind loves games so much that it ignores its own body.”

_‘Well that got deep… and also very dangerous.’_

“Shouldn’t you consult someone about that?” he rubbed his spiky mess of a hair, “It sounds eerily like an addiction.”

“Hmm, sounds like a pain…” the pink-haired girl immediately resumed her game. Most likely going to be too distracted to continue a conversation.

The bartender went back to his thoughts.

_‘Hmm, addiction… I could use that…’_

[-xx-]

It was late past midnight when the school scout Koichi Kizakura entered his small apartment. Living the cozy life despite his above average pay grade was the embodiment of the man himself.

Just cruising through life as it fucked you over ten times, twenty times, however many times. Nothing can get into his psyche and diminish his carefree attitude.

A major part that shaped him to whom he was present was his ‘hobby:’ drinking till he was drunk enough to fall flat on his face the first step he made.

That was why he had entire cases of beer bottles and spirits laying around scattered around his home… which has now mysteriously vanished.

The man racked his brain and scrutinized the scene, he has never in his life hired a cleaner or a maid around to tidy up the place, he didn’t have the pride to showcase the mess to any other human being other than himself and Jin.

He has only ever told a few souls about the clutter of his residence and that included… Hajime Hinata…

The boy might’ve taken position and counterattacked his brilliant move of having a teenager kidnapped and dragged to his class. Man… he had a long ass laughing session that lasted almost an hour. Jin’s deadpan when he explained it made it so much more hilarious.

He looked around the area to see any traces of tampering aside from the bottles. None in the living room looked touched, his room was the same as he left it(messy as fuck) and he doubted anyone would have any business in the bathroom. That left the kitchen.

As soon as Kizakura entered the room, he instantly spotted a paper with a red outline.

**‘** **Kizakura-san,**

**The authorities have received testimony from an anonymous party that you have been violating a multitude of laws passed by the Cabinet by committing crimes that included the consumption of alcohol.**

**We hereby confiscated your inventory of alcohol and prohibit you from drinking any form of an alcoholic substance for a year. We also expect your person to turn in your driver’s license.**

**Do not try and discreetly consume, we are sending a specialist to measure the amount of alcohol in your system. If it’s any above 1.8%, another year will be added on to the pile.**

**Keisatsu-chō** **’**

“Are you fucking kidding me?” The kid’s done it. He’s done the fucking work on this.

In a bizarre turn of events, the man somehow started laughing at the amount of karma that was suddenly carpet bombed on his face.

“This kid… he’s too much.” he couldn’t even get mad. The kid outsmarted him fair and square. He went for the gut, Hinata went for the head.

“I guess I better apologize.” He knew where he was headed that weekend. “Maybe even ask for a ceasefire. Jesus Christ, man...”

The man went to bed questioning his decisions about pranking the kid with something better, but he decided against it. For now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This’ll be a two-part, maybe three, until we get to episode 2 of Despair arc. I modified the timeline, so I have a week of time gap to fill, and incorporate some changes.
> 
> And about the dodgeball thing, from all the games I’ve played, the better players you have, the more victories you get. That’s how it usually worked, but only if both teams are disorganized.
> 
> I know that this is a minor thing but, I also made up a bit of a background for Sato since she’s basically a blank slate other than the fact that she’s Mahiru’s obsessive best friend. I just looked at her hair color and thought of the best one, which ended up as one of Rantaro’s 12 sisters making her the oldest sibling. Her hair’s a bit darker but who cares? Crossing my fingers that it fits well.
> 
> Excuses pile:  
> As for why I haven’t updated in months? It’s a combination of lack of motivation, school work and games. If you live in Canada, please tell me why secondary 5 is so much more time consuming than 4?
> 
> When school started, I had to pull all stops for the fic to get used to the subjects and difficulty. Then after a while, my motivation dwindled to the point of not even thinking about updating the fic for a year. Then, Genshin Impact came out and just swiped all the remains of it. My UID is 604950932 if you wanna add me ;).
> 
> I only started writing again when I realized that ‘hey, I kinda feel like writing again’ and continue where I left off on this chapter. So yeah… such a great writer I am.
> 
> Btw, expect one chapter in the winter breaks, I’ll try my hardest to actually publish one goddamn chapter.


	5. The Days Before Harmony Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s your promised chapter, I’mma head to bed directly after this…
> 
> I realized that it’s been 3 chapters since Hajime actually got to use the talent I gave him, y’know… the main point of this fic? Not one bartending scene... yeah I gotta fix that. I also ret-conned an error in the last chapter where I stated that they only had one period in the afternoon for Talents. You’ll see why.

[-x-]

A few days have passed since the pretty mild first day( for his class’ standard). Apart from Komaeda’s early class wreckage, nothing significantly damaging has happened lately. Under the supervision of Yukizome, they’ve been quite behaved.

Well, at least outside of classes. The gymnasium and pool periods were another story.

Now though, Hajime was enjoying the peace and calm of the cafeteria kitchen. The smell of fresh ingredients permeated the vicinity, as well as a mouth-watering cooking of another Ultimate.

“Hinata-kun, could you be a dear and pass up some fresh tomatoes from the refrigerator?” Teruteru Hanamura requested from his spot across the kitchen.

“Would you stop calling me dear?!” he yelled back, slamming his hands on his counter, “I swear to god I’ll hurt you one day!”

“Oh you don’t have to hold back against me~.” the cook swooned, “I know you like it~.”

“No I don’t, you unbearable prick,” he stomped towards the fridge, “I’ve said the same thing for the past three days!”

The bartender forced the fridge open, luckily not a single item spilled on top of him. He pulled the crisper drawer and picked up some glossy red tomatoes by the vine. Closing the appliance, the boy then trod to his classmate.

“Here’s your damn tomatoes…” he handed over the requested fruit.

“Aw~ how sweet of you. C’mere, I’ll give you a hug as a reward.” the plump boy sprung to pounce on Hinata.

But a quick chop on the head halted the action, “Do you want me to throw you out again?” the bartender threatened indifferently. This wasn’t his first rodeo against touchy customers.

Usually, he’d have his much stronger Boss handle them; but in a few close calls that she wasn’t there for, he had to scramble around trying to find something to defend himself with. His two co-workers decided to just laugh at his misfortune like the pricks they are.

So, he decided to sink some time learning some basic martial arts from Dana. It was definitely worth it, especially right now. Though, the way she taught them was a bit unconventional. She made him stay still while he tried his best to defend himself against a fucking professional wrestler.

It took him awhile but he eventually got the hang of it. She said that she made him train his reflexes first before any proper techniques, justifying herself by saying that fights mostly consisted of on-the-spot thinking. She wasn’t wrong, but what was he supposed to defend himself with without moves?

He decided not to question her too much, he wasn’t the expert after all.

But why was he placed in these positions? Man… was working with creeps a permanent curse cast upon him?

The  _ chef, _ the title Hanamura prefered to be called as, rubbed his injured cranium. His hand reached out to his pockets and pulled out his signature white comb that he brought everywhere. Then straightening the ruffled part.

“You didn’t have to hit me you know?” Hanamura huffed, “But if you like to take it that way, I don’t mind~.”

“That’s it!” he lifted the chef by his double-breasted jacket but immediately dropped him. “Damn, I already did this yesterday. Whoo, maybe I’m just tired…”

“Oooh, where are you taking me Hinata-kun?” The chef got up and latched onto the bartender’s right leg, “Your dorm room perha-” another chop aimed at the neck did the trick to get some peace of mind.

Hanamura collapsed onto the floor, his beady eyes, marginally different.

“This school can never give me a five minute break.” he sighed and dragged the other boy to the kitchen exit. Then, raising Hanamura and placing him in one of the many cafeteria tables.

_ ‘He should be awake by the next period starts, I hope… I don’t wanna drag this bastard upstairs.” _

Well, he still had a couple minutes left of practice before… lunch started…

Hajime turned his head back to the unconscious boy in front of him and uttered his regret.

“Fuck.”

In a totally  _ non-panicked _ way, he began shaking the chef violently in hopes of regaining consciousness, “Wake up! Wake up!” but to no avail. He ran back into the kitchen to check the food currently cooking.

Since him and his classmate started honing their talents in the school cafeteria, they had been tasked to make the meals and drinks for certain days of the week for the entire school. It just so happened to be Thursday, one of the days included.

He noticed some diced onions and garlic by the counter that was supposed to be added to the boiling pot sitting on top of the oven. His hand reached for the knob and turned the fire off.

The teen needed to think of a solution and  _ fast. _

He couldn’t cancel today’s lunch, that would be an absolute disaster, especially to those who  _ relied  _ on the school to supply them sustenance.

He had to try or else he’d have to deal with a horde of screaming, hungry and most-likely rabid high-schoolers who relied on the cafeteria for their lunch. That included one of his frightening classmates, Akane Owari.

Making his own lunch was out of the picture. He doesn’t have enough time or the skill to prepare lunch to a population of more than fifty. Not adding the fact that he could barely make himself his own lunch!

His face lit up immediately. He knew one way to do it instantaneously, but it would involve a specific ingredient that he wasn’t sure the school even had.

He got going, booting up his map and scrolling through the entire area.

[-x-]

Hajime knocked on the doors of one of the Research Labs. A nameplate was attached to the door revealing the owner: Seiko Kimura, Ultimate Pharmacist. If he was to find this component, this was his best bet. Fifteen minutes remaining on the clock.

The brown-haired boy stood still waiting for an answer but none came his way. Naturally, because of his rush, he pulled open the door himself.

“DON’T DISTURB ME!” a shriek, clearly from a girl, was the response he got.

He promptly shut the door close as he rested his back on the door in order to calm his nerves. Two minutes passed according to his E-Handbook and the wooden frame started to budge.

The bartender moved out of the way, revealing a mess of gray hair from the small gap of the entrance until it fully displayed the entire person.

From what he assumed, this was Seiko Kimura. She sported the Hope’s Peak Academy uniform and had a respiratory face mask covering her face. Her complexion seemed far paler compared to the ordinary person, he speculated she was sickly.

Her hairstyle somewhat reminded him of Nanami’s and from the girl’s exposed features, no not that, she looked to be a senior of his.

“What were you interrupting me for?! I would've been seriously hurt if I messed up the amount I put in that test tube!” she berated him for his actions, clearly irate.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he held up his hands in surrender, “I promised I didn’t mean to! I was just in a rush!”

“Didn’t anyone tell you not to burst in people’s places?!” she continued her chastising.

“Yeah, I get it! I learned my lesson.” The boy slumped his shoulders, scared shitless of what the girl would do.

“Oh.. good good.” completely calming down in that instance, she seemed to regret her outburst, “I apologize for shouting at you.” bowing as a gesture.

_ ‘Such a 180. She’s a reserved person for sure.’ _

“It’s fine, don’t worry too much about it. I deserved it anyways, I was in the wrong.” he admitted, trying to appease her as much as he could.

“O-Oh… no one’s done that to me before,” surprised that he even acknowledged his mistake, “M-Moving on… what were you here for?”

“Umm, I was going to ask you if you had any compressed/caffeinated Adelhyde in your Research Lab.” he crossed his fingers behind his back.

“I do...” Hinata nearly jumped in joy, “but… what do you need ‘Hyper Sugar’ for?” calling it by the common name.

“Sweet, no pun intended. Uh, I was gonna take a few grams of it to wake someone up.”  _ ‘That I knocked out…’ _ he left that unsaid.

“Sounds awfully suspicious.” she narrowed her eyes and slightly closed the door.

“Yeah, and I just realized that.” scratching his head. “I can’t really do anything about your distrust right now. So lemme introduce myself to you, my name is Hajime Hinata and I’m the Ultimate Bartender of Class 77-B.'' holding out a hand.

“Seiko Kimura, Class 76th’s Ultimate Pharmacist.” her shaking felt weak, confirming his theory.

“Kimura-senpai, I know you don’t trust me right now but that Adelhyde badly.” still trying to cover up his embarrassment.

His senior looked on the fence. Did he honestly look like the person to abuse drugs? Well... to be fair, he’s looked like a zombie since Monday.

“Can I atleast get an idea of why you want something that can make someone run five kilometers at top speed?” she insisted.

“Alright, I’ll tell ya what happened…” he recounted his stupidity to a total stranger. Her reaction somewhat surprised him, she was pretty accepting of his actions, even managing to sneak in a giggle when he told her about his regret.

“Fine, I believe you. It’s at the top shelf in the third cabinet at the right side. The container has a red and brown striped label with the sticker of its name. You can’t miss it.” pointing towards the direction of the cabinet.

“Thanks alot.”

He finally entered her Research Lab.

An abundance of chemistry equipment was lined up neatly on top of a long counter in the back end of the room. His eyes went into the middle of the room where a large serpentine table was. It had slightly messy cups of what he thought to be drugs were right next to a stand with a tube placed in and a bolted chair, placed directly in front of it.

He turned his head towards his right side of the room. He noticed several cabinets were paralleled to the left side cabinets. Four cabinets per side and placed right next to each other.

Pacing towards his objective, he looked downwards to the tiled floor. It was so shiny and clean that his shoes alone made marks on it. Though, his face turned sullen to see that her floor was more reflective than his mirror at home.

Reaching up and pulling the door open, he looked up to notice a bunch of other energizing drugs were all labeled and lined up depending on their sizes. He identified a red and brown-striped hiding behind the left hand side.

Grabbing it and taking it out to confirm that it was the correct bottle. Once he read the label, he walked towards his senpai to show her.

“Is this the right one?” Hinata asked.

“Lemme see.” she swiped it away from his hands and inspected it. “Yeah, seems like the right one.”

He tried getting it back from her but she hid the drugs behind her back. “First things first, do not drop it, even a quick sniff of this drug can get someone drowsy awake in seconds. Dropping it and letting the powder circulate in the air is potentially disastrous, even outdoors.”

“After the dosage you require is taken out. Seal it back up properly.” she finally handed him the container now inside a metallic case.

“Also, sign this paper. It ensures that the people that request or take some of my personal inventory don’t go unnoticed.” she extended her hand that had a pen.

“Alright.” he took it and signed the paper with his name, homeroom and title. “Here.”

“All done. Remember to give it back by the end of today, I don't like being disorganized and losing fatal substances from my sight. I’ll be sure to notify you by private messaging in the HPA chats.”

“Thanks alot!” opening the door and waving goodbye at the pharmacist.

That was a good five minutes time down the drain. He had to hurry back down but decided against it. Kimura-senpai trusted him enough to grant access to a precarious drug, so he wouldn’t do anything to break that.

She mentioned something about private messaging. So he fired up his E-Handbook and checked his icons. Lo and behold, a private app that had Hope’s Peak logo slapped on top of it. He tapped his finger and opened the program.

His eyes laid on the multiple selection screens. One was a Student section, another was a Staff section, the third was a Groups section and the final was a search bar.

_ ‘No messages. Figures.’ _

No one has messaged him yet since he was still new and who would even do that? Well, some of his classmates would but that was besides the point. He typed in Seiko Kimura on the search engine. A few seconds of loading time later, her face popped up with her general info that Hope’s Peak took.

_ ‘Likes: Mixing medicine; Dislikes: Loud noises… yikes, no wonder she got on my case.” _ he grimaced.

He clicked on the mail button and a conversation tab opened on the Student’s section. Tapping on it, he made a quick greeting and promised to return it back.

She sent a bunch of kaomojis and a thumbs up as a response. That took him by surprise that he only managed to send a smile back.

“Huh, I guess she’s a lot more expressive in text.” he shrugged off telling himself that he’s seen far odder behavior from other people.

[-x-]

Getting back in the kitchen, he got down to business. Emptying his sole shaker and washing it off with the tap, he readied the other ingredients needed to make a souped up cocktail.

_ ‘A Sparkle Star for our chef… starting with the aged Powdered Delta, two grams of that...Then, a full ounce of aged Adelhyde. Finally, adding one scoop of amplified Adelhyde to the mix. Don’t forget to close it.’ _

He shook it as efficiently as he could until he felt like the drink was ready. Slapping the cap open with a satisfying pop when new air rushed in the container, he open-poured it into a poco grande glass. A red-orange liquid flowed and crashed down.

With five minutes left, he reignited the stove and headed outside to his classmate.

Hanamura was currently drooling and dreaming certainly about something sexual. From his past confrontations with him, every single one managed to be ended with a sexual innuendo. That was a hard and impressive record to beat, be it a bit crude.

He could only hope no one surpasses the chef in terms of sexual insinuations, it was already painful enough as is to be a bartender at a semi-popular bar filled with weirdos.

Hinata raised his chin up and poured the drink inside Hanamura’s mouth. Slowly but surely emptying the glass, the plump boy started to agitate til the drink was over.

“Ahhh~, that was a delicious dream… huh?” he noticed his surroundings, “Why are we in the seating area, Hinata-kun? Did something happen? I have so much stamina right now. Why do I feel like I can last forever in be-”

“Before you finish that last sentence up, lemme explain. I knocked you out because you wouldn’t stop making sex jokes and it got on my nerves. Then, I realized we both had to make lunch today so I rushed upstairs to find something that’ll wake you up.”

“Someone upstairs lent me some of their produced drugs, safe to consume of course-”

“Hold on, hold on.” the other boy interrupted him now, “Are you saying that you drugged me?”

“...Yes but for a good reason.”

“Oh what a bad boy you are, Hinata-kun~. Next time you might even roofie my drink~.”

“Dude no! Stop! Don’t give me another reason to knock you out cold again. Plus we have a job to finish and we only have a little less than five minutes left.”

“Right! Let’s get back to work. We can make this happen!!” the shorter of the two threw his right fist into the air.

_ ‘Second surprise of the day, Hanamura being serious. Then again, his enthusiasm for food is genuine.’ _

“Yes we can.” he happily cheered back.

They barely managed to finish their tasks in time. Gruelling, but they were both up to the challenge.

[-x-]

Hajime was drinking his orange juice when the cafeteria request bell rang. They already served most of their servings to the students so this one might’ve been caught up in something. Hanamura took his break so he would be the only one to respond.

He got off his chair and walked out.

“Oh, Hinata it’s you.” a voice he recognized called out.

“Koizumi. What brings you here? Don’t you usually make your own lunches?” he brushed his hands on his worn apron.

“I do but my friend forgot to pack hers and the food already ran out in their sector.” she put her hands on her hips.

_ ‘Their sector…? Ah…”  _ he picked up on the wording.

“You mean it’s your friend from the Reserve Course?”

“Yeah, she said it’s fine if she didn’t eat today but I insisted.” her face scrunched a teeny bit. “And the lunches of Main Course students are free. So it’s not costing me anything.”

“Damn, didn’t realize you were that close to her.” he genuinely stated.

“Been this close since Middle School. The only way you can separate us is by force.” she smiled gleefully.

_ ‘Big backstory they have going here.’ _

“Which meal would you wanna give to her? We have soup, pizza, spring rolls and sushi today. Don’t worry about the quality since Hanamura made it with ‘love’... supposedly.”

“Do you have Harumakis? She likes that the best.” tapping on her chin.

“We only have three pieces left, would that be enough?” grabbing the serving tongs and handing it out in a brown paper bag.

“Yeah, she doesn’t eat a whole lot which reflects on her health a little bit.”

“Maybe I can make her a drink that’ll have extra nutrients that she needs?” he jerked his thumb towards the kitchen door.

“You can do that?” she looked content to see someone offer her friend some help. But then raised an eyebrow. “Wait, but aren’t you a bartender? Don’t you only serve mixed alcohol?”

“Well, most of the drinks I serve have alcohol but I have non-alcoholic beverages in my catalogue. If I don’t, what kind of lousy bartender would I be?” he squinted.   
  


“Woah, didn’t mean to offend ya. I was just wondering.” she pulled up her hands.

“Nah, it’s all good,” he grinned, “I gotta defend my pride and passion a little bit. Don’t wanna look like some pushover in front of my clients.”

“Got it. I think everyone Ultimate here has some form of pride about their talent…” but then remembered a certain trainwreck of a human. “...with a few exceptions.”

“Yeah… I’ll mix up the drink in the back,” turning around, “you can come watch if you want. I’m not gonna put anything weird in it, I promise.”

“I kinda wanna see you in action so I’ll come.” walking into the kitchen with him.

They went to Hajime’s station in the room. “You can wait there, I’m just gonna get a few more ingredients.” He opened some cabinets to find the elements he wanted to add in.

A few more seconds of scrambling around, he looked back to see Koizumi messing around with the camera she brought everywhere and anywhere. Seriously, he never saw her without that thing, even in gym class.

“Okay, I found what I need. So I’m gonna start the mixing process now.”

_ ‘A Fluffy Dream with some vitamins extracted from the vegetables.’ _

He grabbed a bottle of aged Adelhyde and poured one and a half ounces in his jigger, flicking his index smoothly to transition the liquid into the shaker. Three teaspoons of aged Powdered Delta to balance out the immense sweetness of the Adelhyde. He closed off his boston shaker by pouring the liquid on the bigger cup and locking the two cups together.

Shaking it up in a tempo that the drink necessitated, he started slow and gradually went faster and faster till his hands were a mere blur to the naked eye. After a few moments, his shaking stopped in an instant and he smacked the shaker to release the pressure built up inside.

A cold hiss resonated and a light green liquid was gently filtered into a funnel connected to a metallic bottle. He sprinkled the crushed vitamins inside the funnel to ensure that he didn’t waste any and continued pouring.

“Wow.” the sound of a whistle came to his right where the photographer was positioned. He noticed that she had her camera out aimed at his direction. “If this place didn’t have such poor lighting, that could’ve been one of my best pieces to date.”

“Here,” handing out the container, “You can give it back anytime you want, preferably today though, I only have a limited amount of bottles.”

“Thanks.” Placing the drink inside her lunch bag. “I’ll give it to you after lunch.”

“Gotcha. Tell her not to drink too much at one time.” he warned. “I don’t want her to choke, I’ve already seen a fair amount of those. All of them come from my dad.”

He looked back at the many times his old man tried downing a whole drink with added supplements and almost being sent to the hospital once again for his carelessness. Hinata really only wanted to add some nutrients to his parent’s otherwise unhealthy diet.

“That stuff can hook someone after only one serving-” shoving one of his hands into his apron pocket before being interrupted.

“Then why didn’t you tell me so!” she chided. “I don’t want my friend addicted to this!”

“Hey, hey. I don’t serve to get people obsessed with my drinks!” he started backing up as soon as she leaned in.

“Then what makes you think I’ll give this to her now?” pointing her finger at his face.

“I was about to say that the sensation won’t last longer than the given time to drink the whole thing.” he gently explained to the irate redhead.

She backed up right away and coughed. “Heh… sorry about that.”

“No worries, I’m used to customer complaints.” he shrugged. “Helps me grow y’know?”

“No, no. I’m clearly in the wrong here. I apologize for screaming at you like that. It’s just that... the mention of addiction kinda hits home.” guiltily looking down on the floor, “literally.”

“Don’t get yourself in a twist. I didn’t think much about it.” Patting the photographer on her shoulder. “But hey, shouldn’t you leave now? There’s only 45 minutes left till lunch is over.”

“I should. But I still feel bad for doing that,” then her face brightened up when an idea formed in her head. “Tell you what, why don’t I invite you to meet her? It should be enough time for me to formally apologize.”

“It’s fine reall-”

“It wasn’t an offer, Hinata.” she smiled with a hint of jest. “You’re coming with me or I’m dragging you there to meet my best friend.”

“Is it really the best idea to make up by inviting me there?”

“No, but it’s the quickest one I can think of right now. Hurry up or we won’t have enough time.”

She walked out of the kitchen, fully expecting him to follow suit. Well it wasn’t like he had any more business there anyways… aside from operating it and handing out lunches. Eh, Hanamura’ll come back eventually.

_ ‘Plus, do I really have a choice in this at all?’ _

The answer was a no. When the hell was it ever a yes?

[-x-]

“Man, why does this place look so drab…?” he asked out of curiosity and distaste.

“Yeah… even  _ I _ can’t say anything notable about this place. It’s basically impossible to compliment.” she voiced out. “Her homeroom’s on the sixth floor, so that’s where we're going.”

They both stared down the monotonous face of the building they were facing. Not having anything else to do, they walked in.

The immediate stares came rushing in as they set foot inside the hallways. Reserve Course students whispering to each other about their unwelcome presence. At least that was what he got from those offended or intimidated facial reactions.

The two of them unconsciously inched closer to each other.

His mind went back to the article he read a few days ago. These paying students are essentially judging him for barging in their territory. He didn’t think the jealousy towards the Main Course was this bad. Well, he hasn’t really seen this side of the Academy yet so this was a surprise.

More judgemental stares continue to engulf their visions. He  _ had _ to break the silence.

“So… you have to deal with this every time you wanna eat with your friend?” he questioned her, confused as to why she wouldn’t simply invite her friend outside in the humongous park between the two academic buildings. There were even benches near that fountain.

“Yeah, at this point, this doesn’t really bother me.” she shrugged.

_ ‘How?! You have nerves of steel, woman!’  _ Hinata’s jaw was barely hanging in there, imitating his pink-haired classmate’s face.

“Your face is screaming ‘How?’ so I’ll answer. I’ve experienced and seen this staring schtick since Middle School. This is just an amplified version of that.” the redhead looked into the distance.

“What were they staring at you for?” curiously raising an eyebrow.

“I was outed as the weirdo who carried a camera everywhere.” responding as curt and ambiguous as she could.

“Huh. Guess we have more in common.” an honest look developed on the bartender’s face.

“You were too?”

“Like I told you at Orientation, most Ultimates have their fair share of hardships. Some more extreme than others but that’s besides the point. People back in my old highschool generally didn’t like hanging out with me cuz of my usual drowsy slash dead appearance, calling me names and shit when they felt like it.” he confided, chuckling at his past.

“...Glad to know I’m not alone.” her smile was enough to give him the message.

They stepped out of the long flight of stairs and entered another hallway of critical eyes. Every time he glanced at one of the Reserve Course students, they either looked away to pretend being busy or expressed even more caution.

There wasn’t any point in continuing this silent feud with these people so he decided to simply appreciate the wooden carving of the floors until they reached their destination.

Koizumi went forward to one of the doors and slid it open. Her demeanor lightened when she identified a clutter of distinct dark-green hair. The other girl did the same until her irises landed on him. She scrutinized the bartender like a dog would to a stranger in their property. Luckily, no one was in the class to witness his unease.

“Don’t worry, he’s harmless.” the photographer announced.

_ ‘The hell? Harmless...? Since when was I a threat?’ _ Hajime thanked his self-control for not saying that out loud. The two Ultimates arrived in front of her desk and the girl stood up, silently analyzing the boy.

“Hinata, this is Sato Amami, my best friend. Sato-chan, this is Hajime Hinata, a classmate of mine.” they silently shook hands, as stiff as it was. Both looked wary of each other, not breaking their eye contact.

“You better not mess with her, alright? Or else you’ll have to deal with me…” she loomed over him like a predator.

“Hehehe, n-no worries, I won’t.” This woman matched a livid Dana in terms of intimidation.

A streak of sweat slid down his back when a smack came and knocked him out of his thoughts. He looked to his right and spotted a chuckling Koizumi. Another bout of laughter came from the other girl.

“Mahiru, you never told me he was a scaredy-cat.” Amami snorted, holding on to her abdomen.

“We got you good, Hinata, didn’t we?” The redhead grinned like a menace, the greenette jumped on the bandwagon.

“Wait, what’s going on?” he said, confused, afraid even.

“Oh, it’s just tradition for us to mess with new people we both meet.” the grin still plastered on her damn face.

“It’s fun to see people’s reaction.” the Reserve Course student rested a fist on her hip. “Everyone says that I can look pretty menacing, especially near Mahiru-chan around other strangers. So we decided that we could mess with people and get them spooked.”

“She can be overprotective at times so we used that to our advantage,” smiling at the bartender, “Alright! If we don't start eating now, we're never gonna finish it.”

“You’re legit not gonna wait for a response about the shit that you guys pulled?”

“Nope.” Koizumi said.

“Alright then” his shoulders slumped, “I already ate lunch though.” he pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter, I can share some of my bento.” she dismissed him.

The photographer rotated the desk ahead of the normal student and connected it together while the bartender dragged the chair and placed it in between.

“Sato-chan, here’s your lunch I got from the cafeteria.” she placed the lunchbox in the middle. “Hinata here actually made you a drink, it’s inside the bottle.”

“Oooh, Harumaki, finally something other than sandwiches.” her eyes glowed in delight. She took the first bite and her visage turned dreamy. “Oh god, this is so good!”

“Our classmate Hanamura made that. Despite his… attitude around everyone, he’s a pretty competent cook.” Koizumi complimented.

“Chef. He prefers being called ‘chef.’” he pointed out.

“Why does it matter?” the green-haired girl asked.

“I’ve been working with him in the kitchen for the past week and he kept bugging me about it. It just became a habit now.”

“Couldn’t imagine working with someone that unbearable.” the photographer expressed.

“He isn’t  _ that  _ bad once you’ve been exposed to some of his antics for more than a day.” ‘ _ Very hypocritical coming from a guy who knocked him out for the same antic.’  _ he bit his tongue from saying that.

“Let’s just see where he’ll be after a month. If he doesn’t change, we’ll make him.” Koizumi casually threatened, biting into an octopus hot dog.

“That’d be fun to see. Keep me updated on it.” the other girl requested while finishing up her first spring roll.

“Don’t worry, it’s not easy to forget about the guy.” Crossing his legs. “Even if everyone in our class stands out, he’s one of the more sneaky ones which ironically... makes him stick out more.”

“I heard from her,” pointing at her friend, “that you guys almost destroyed the gym yesterday.”

“Yeah… you can blame Saionji for riling up the two brawniest people in the class. In a volleyball game yesterday, she basically told Nidai and Owari that they aren’t trying hard enough and that they sucked at the game, even though her team was losing by a huge margin.” he narrated.

“After that, those two just went  _ ham,”  _ the photographer continued, “Those two double-teamed the opposing group, destroyed the other team and cracked parts of the floors. The losing side didn’t even try, they just let the ball hit the ground.”

“How bad were the damages?” she said after swallowing the second Harumaki.

“Mild compared to some. But an average person would never get to witness a one-sided match between insane Ultimates and the floorboards.” the bartender replied.

“I’d pay to see that. It’d make for a great TV show.”

“I can almost see it,” he moved his hands in an arcing motion, “Class 77-B, Insanity Above Comprehension.”

“And I can’t believe both of you are still sane.” her eyes shifted to him then her best friend. “Those classmates of yours sound like they should be locked up in a mental asylum away civilization that they can damage.”

“That’s not the worst part, I think this is just the start of the descent.” he scratched his cheeks. “It’ll get progressively more deranged as time goes on.”

“Then why not get someone who can spearhead you guys into some form of structure.” she suggested.

“If we’re talking about that, then Yukizome-sensei can help out.” her friend placed her chopsticks on top of her container. “But only if it fits her agenda. Most of the time, she just ignores the wreckage.”

“Have you guys nominated a Class Representative yet?” the Reserve Course student asked.

“No, not yet.” Koizumi responded.

“And I don’t think we’ll have one in the near future. None of us so far are viable candidates.” he added. “I’m too tired to handle that damn class, so leave me out of it.”

“I can do it… but I’m hesitant. I’m not very charismatic nor do I hold back on my scoldings. I can’t really remain impartial, especially towards boys.” the photographer stated.

“You do give us a lot flak fo- ow!” someone stepped on his foot, his head turned towards the greenette.

“Well, I think you’ll do well once you get the hang of it.” putting her hand on top of the redhead’s and ignoring Hinata.

_ “That’s not unbiased at all…  _ Ow!” he got stepped on again for that remark.

“Still, I don’t think I have the patience to manage that ‘rat’s nest’ of a class.” even  _ she  _ expressed her dislike for the anarchy.

“That’s the real problem here. Having enough willingness to endure.” he affirmed. “How ‘bout we deal with that obstacle once we get there, I don’t wanna think too hard on this right now.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she pushed her bento box towards him and Amami, “Here, you guys can have the rest, I’m full.”

“I don’t think I can finish that. I still have to drink the juice this guy made.” she pointed towards him.

“I have a name y’know?” he quipped.

“ _ Hinata,  _ do you want the rest?” she offered.

“Eh fine since no one'll eat it,” he dragged it towards him, “Did you bring another pair of chopsticks?”

“No, I forgot to get another one in the cafeteria earlier.”

“Uhhh, isn’t this… hehe… a bit weird then?” chuckling nervously.

“What is?” apparently oblivious to the fact until... “Oh.”

The girl’s face turned as red as her hair as she immediately dragged backed her bento and shoved it in her bag. She looked bashful and avoided looking in his general direction. He was just questioning how she never realized it.

“So… Amami, wanna try the drink I whipped out for you?” he started to spark up another subject.

“Y-Yeah, you should try it. I took some pictures of this guy while he made it, one of the few times Hinata didn’t look dead or half-asleep, hehe...”

_ ‘Wow, thanks for the compliment…’ _

“Okay...? I’ll try it now then I guess,” she brought out the canister and twisted the cap open, “Here goes.”

He could pinpoint the exact moment the liquid hit her tongue, it was when she went wide-eyed. Surprise and delight came attacking her taste buds, bombarding them with the perfect blend of sweet and tart.

She only reverted to reality once she swallowed the final driblet.

“Damn, that was it?” shaking and wobbling the bottle to verify, she then turned to him with pleading puppy eyes, “Hinata, can you make me some more of this stuff? This is the best drink I’ve ever tasted in my life!”

“Heh, it’s nothing much,” playing with his cowlick, “I can, but on one condition.”

“Shoot.” she confidently urged him.

“You can only receive this drink once a week, maximum.” he announced.

“Only one?” looking slightly deranged and offended, “Can you maybe bump it up to four…?”

“Nope,” he shook his head, “I’m not trying to get you dependent on this.”

She shot up and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him up slightly from the ground.

“Sato-chan! What are you doing?!” the redhead got up and tried prying off her currently delirious friend.

“Make it four or I’ll use anything other than-” a strong flick between her eyes got the bartender free from her grasp.

“Ow!” she caressed the afflicted spot, her eyes reverting back to their neutral state. “Hinata! What was that for? Wait, what happened?”

“You don’t remember?” her worried friend asked, “You tried to attack him to get some more juice. Speaking of that… Hinata!” she turned to him, “You told me that the effect only lasts a few seconds! That was almost a full minute!”

_ ‘Hm, she’s a lot more susceptible to the drink which means that she has a very low grade of tolerance against a dopamine attack, especially from my drinks.’  _ he rubbed his chin.

“Oi! Answer me now, Hinata!” Koizumi demanded.

“Oh, uh, I think the effect lasted longer cuz she never really felt that much dopamine from a drink before and a spike of it didn’t help her logical thinking. Tell me, Amami, have you ever felt a rush that high before?”

“This isn’t time to treat my friend like a lab experiment y'know!” the photographer voiced out but the Reserve Course student responded anyways.

“No, I don’t think I have.”

“That explains it,” he nodded, “I usually only mix these for my old man and I know damn well that his tolerance is insanely high. I should’ve realized that so, I’m sorry for making you crazy for a bit there.”

“Nah, it’s fine really. I didn’t mind it aside from the being insane part.” she brushed it off so casually. “This isn’t the worst thing that happened to me, I don’t think you can ever beat my brother on that.”

“If you want, I can make you a less druggy version of this, like, a way lesser version.” he emphasized.

“Eh sure. What’s the worst that could happen?” she grinned and left her hand up for a high five.

“I dunno, this again?” he chuckled and clapped her hand.

“Are you guys done ignoring me?” a tired voice asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry, we didn’t forget about the only other person inside this classroom.” Amami jested and patted the head of Koizumi.

“Hey!” she swatted it off while the other two laughed. Seemed like he gained another friend and a partner in crime at the same time.

_ ‘Not a bad impression for once… aside from drugging someone and making them batshit part. I still gotta test this out and ask the people to rename this drink,  _ Fluffy Dream,  _ my ass.’ _

They all sat back down and chatted/teased the photographer until the two Ultimates had to leave.

“Alright, nice meeting you, Hinata.” she conveyed her contentment with a smirk. “Sadly, you guys have to go back now.”

“Such tragedy being separated from your best friend huh?” he grinned.

“Nah, I see this flat chest everyday so not really.” teasing the redhead and pointing at her bust.

“Would you guys stop?” she deadpanned while the two retained their devious expression. “This is harassment y’know?”

“Oh we do.” the girl continued. “But really though, if you guys don’t leave now, you’ll be late. Not that there’s really any repercussions for that.”

“There is. Yukizome-sensei’s foreboding acts of violence that she calls lessons.” he dragged the chair back while Koizumi rearranged the tables. Koizumi gave her a goodbye hug. “See ya another time!” he waved as his classmate followed him out.

“Bye!” she waved back just as he slid the door closed.

[-x-]

“Well, that was something…” he remarked.

“Yeah, I didn’t think she could get that friendly to someone that quickly,” sounding relieved that the lunch went well as it did, “Not gonna lie, you do have a certain charm on you that I can’t put my finger on.”

“Are you saying that you're starting to fall for me?” he said out of reflex but also as a test.

“What?!” caught off guard by the question, “O-Of course not! Why would I be? We just met!”

_ ‘Yep, that’s a tsundere reaction if I’ve ever seen one.’ _

“Calm down there bud, it was a joke.” holding his hands up in surrender.

“O-Oh,” realizing her outburst, “Yeah, sorry about that.” she was trying to cover up her tomato tinted face, then her attention got caught by someone in the distance. “Huh? I-Is that Nanami-chan?” she most likely said as a diversion.

He spotted the mentioned student sitting at the same bench he first saw her at. As usual, she had her GameGirl in hand, too fixated on her screen to see anyone in her peripheral vision, perhaps even recognize the short amount of time before they come in late.

The two walked closer and closer until they were touching distance. The girl noticed shadows hovering her portable console and paused her game to see what was up.

“Hey hey,” she nonchalantly greeted them, “What are you guys doing out here?”

“We were walking back from the Reserve Course after lunch with a friend of mine.” the redhead explained.

“Huh? Why was Hinata there then? Did you invite him to do his route?” she asked, making the bartender blush and the photographer confused.

“What do you mean by his rou-”

“No no, she wasn’t, Nanami.” He cut her off before she can make her face turn into her hair color again. “I just completed a quest she requested.”

“Ahh, okay. That makes more sense now.” she nodded, it seemed that the analogy worked, “What did you do for her then?”

“Make her friend a drink and deliver it there.” he said, hiding the fact that Koizumi invited him there in the first place.

“That’s great then, I hope you got a lot of exp.” She ended the conversation by going back into her game, not noticing that she ended it preemptively and left the other two hanging.

“Care to explain what you guys talked about?” She did her signature move and laid her hand on her hip.

“Just explained what we did in the Reserve Course building in gamer language.” he was silently thanking that she hasn’t understood any of that. “Nothing much.”

He hoped that wouldn’t pry anymore. Having to deal with a bumbling mess for a second time didn’t seem too appealing for his current state. That being half-asleep trying his hardest to pretend fully awake. Thankfully, she didn’t.

“Oh okay.” she tapped the gamer on her shoulders, “Nanami-chan, we should get back to class now or we're gonna be late.” the pink-haired girl silently nodded and walked while mashing buttons to near-destruction. The other pair followed silently.

Up until Koizumi decided to look up what those terms meant and turned all tomato once again.

[-x-]

“Oi oi, Hinata.” his pink-haired friend called out. “Can you stop flexing that you hang out with women? You’re making the rest of us jealous here.”

The mechanic was standing above him while he was seated on his spot.

“Okay, aside from you and Hanamura, I don’t think ‘the rest of us’ applies.” he countered, “And even then, I was just hanging out with Koizumi while we just crossed Nanami on the way here.”

“Hanging out huh? Are you sure that’s all you did?” a shark-toothed grin materialized.

“Yes, keep your dirty-minded thoughts away from me please. I’ve had enough of those to last the week.” The bartender was straight-faced.

“Oh c’mon. Lighten up! I was kidding… kinda. Your entrance still looked suspicious as hell, Koizumi was blushing man! Blushing!” Soda threw his hands up.

“What? You’ve never seen a girl blush before?” he curiously asked.

“Nope.”  _ ‘that’s kinda sad…’ _ “Oi! Knock that pitying face off. I can tell what you’re thinking!”

“Hehe, fine…” he chuckled while his friend remained annoyed.

“By the way, didn’t you promise me some conversation lessons on Orientation day? You better hold your end of the deal. I need those right now to woo Sonia-san.” Soda implored.

“Oh damn, I kinda forgot about that.” Hinata buried his hand in his spiky mess.  _ ‘I don’t think you’ll ever get close to wooing her.’ _

“Of course you did…” the mechanic looked despondent.

“Look man, you can’t blame me. I didn’t see you for like... two months,” he shrugged off while making excuses, “Don’t worry though, just come on Saturday at my bar and I’ll teach you some basics. 

_ “Even if any normal person should know them already...”  _ Hinata muttered,  _ ‘wait, why am I thinking anyone’s normal inside this classroom?’ _

“Aight, you better not forget this time. Where is it?” pulling out his Handbook.

“I won’t, I won’t. Central Street, it’s between a karaoke bar and a Big Bang Burger. You can’t miss it.”

“Got it. What time’s your shift that night?” he asked.

“Around seven. It doesn’t matter if you’re late, I’ll be there overnight, just don’t be too early.”

“Why? Cuz you won’t be there?” raising an eyebrow.

“Nah, cuz there’s a bunch of lowlives hanging around the area before my Boss clears them up.” 

“Can’t you just call up some cops?”

“You think we haven’t done that before?” laying his elbows on his desk. “They just come back and flock that alleyway for some reason.”

“Then how does your boss do anything to ‘em? Beat ‘em up or some shit?” crossing his arms.

“Sorta? I’ve never seen her actually do what she does to make them scram, but I don’t wanna know either.”

“Man… how scary is he?” mistaking her gender.

“She. My Boss is a she. Did I ever tell you she was the Former Ultimate Wrestler?”

“Oh shit… yeah, not messing with her… ever.” he shook his head while making a ‘X’ with both his arms.

“Don’t ever underestimate her, it’ll be your head. I’ve already seen some poor schmuck get clotheslined off the chair and lay on the floor till the medics picked him up.”

“Holy- okay stop. You’re making me shit scared to go there now!” biting his fingernails and pulling down his hat.

“Hehehe, don’t worry. You’re pretty safe unless you try something dumb; like flirt with my co-worker or destroy property.”

“Aight, gotcha.”

“Everyone! Get back to your places, we’re starting Free Reign!” Yukizome-sensei announced.

“See ya there.” his friend saluted with his fingers.

“Yeah, I will.” he saluted back

Such a taxing day for Hajime, more than usual at least. Maybe he should ask to lessen those gruelling work hours... On second thought he will, his survival was more important than money at the moment.

He remembered he had to give back the Hyper Sugar, a whiff of that sounded far too tempting since Hajime desperately needed a second wind if he was to do his shift tonight. Oh god, this class was going to be the death of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seiko deserved better. Fight me. That girl got so cucked because of that bitch Ruruka.
> 
> I overhauled Sato’s character into this a devious person, but still slightly obsessive because well… she was so fucking one-dimensional. An obsessive friend? C’mon, the writers could’ve made her so much more interesting. Sad that Kodaka wasn’t a full time writer for DR3, he would’ve made it a masterpiece. Or at least comparable to V3 and DR2.
> 
> Man, I’m sad that N1RV Ann-A was delayed. I was honestly waiting for more cocktails to add to the list. ;-;
> 
> Question, should I get an actual beta-reader? Or should I continue on with my one-man team?


End file.
